Harrogate based Rudding Park Hotel has scooped the ‘Best Gluten Free Venue in Yorkshire’ award on Wednesday 14 May, following an inspiring ‘Ready, Steady, Cook’ style competition, held by the leading manufacturer of wheat, gluten and lactose free products, Delicious Alchemy Ltd.

In support of Coeliac UK’s 'Food Without Fear' campaign, and held during its awareness week (12 to 19 May), the cook-off challenge saw three of Yorkshire’s leading gluten-free eating venues go head-to-head to see who was best - Best Western Premier Mount Pleasant Hotel in Doncaster, Cedar Court Hotel in Wakefield and Rudding Park Hotel in Harrogate.

Each hotel put forward a team of three chefs set with the challenge of creating a gluten free starter, main course and dessert in just one hour, using a selection of mystery ingredients and the full range of Delicious Alchemy gluten free products, which were presented on the night.

In keeping with the TV show, an audience of thirty five people with coeliac disease voted for the team of culinary experts that had created the best overall gluten free menu on the night. The event was held in the incredible international kitchen at Leeds Thomas Danby College, where the audience watched the chefs in action from the viewing gallery and via television screens transmitting images from the kitchen.

The winning menu was created by Rudding Park’s event and conferencing team. Chef Craig Davies' tantalising combination consisted of a starter of pan fried seabass, with a lemon, garlic and dill crust, served with chunky sauted chorizo, and a warm salad with lemon grass and coriander oil.

The main course of chicken roulade, created by chef Paul Mackie, came with a Yorkshire blue cheese and herb stuffing, and a pine nut crust, served with creamed spinach, sweet potato and thyme puree, and a chicken veloute sauce.

Finally, the Assiette of Desserts was created by Marc Rayner and consisted of a gluten free summer pudding, a butter scone trifle, and a lime and ginger syllabub garnished with fresh berries and lime zest.

In addition, food industry judges, Robert Ramsden from specialist food distributor Delifresh, and Michael Harrison and Gayle Blanchard from Northern Select Foods, decided which individual chefs had created the best gluten free starter, main course and dessert.

The winning starter was the gluten free potato gnocchi with chilli, cherry tomato, Wensleydale cheese and rosemary created by Rob Collier, Gary Loftus and Arbe Revik of Cedar Court Hotel Wakefield. The judges said they were ‘amazed that the team created a gluten free gnocchi of such a high standard, in the traditional Italian way in just one hour’.

The winning main course was the ‘Taste of India’ created by Dave Booker and Michael Richardson of the Best Western Premier Mount Pleasant Hotel in Doncaster, with assistance from chef Jamie Pepper. The course comprised of gluten free onion bhajis, chipati bread, pan fried seabass served on a potato spinach curry, pilau rice flavoured with cumin and marinated chicken skewer served with lemon and lime riata. The judges described the skewers as ‘unbelievable’ and the seabass as ‘stunning’, once again expressing their amazement that the team had accomplished so much in such a short period of time.

The winning dessert was the the Assiette of Desserts created by Marc Rayner of Rudding Park Hotel. The judges described the compilation of desserts as ‘sexy’ and ‘stunning’. The lime and ginger syllabub and the butter scone trifle were ‘extremely light’, and the gluten free summer pudding was technically excellent with the ‘gluten free bread soaking up the fruit juices to perfection’.

Each of these hotels is at the forefront of catering for people with coeliac disease in Yorkshire and wanted to support Coeliac UK’s Food without Fear campaign, which aims to raise awareness and understanding of a gluten-free diet with chefs and caterers in hospitals, schools, restaurants, cafes, hotels and with airlines.

One in one hundred people in the UK have coeliac disease and require a gluten-free diet. For them, eating out can be a difficult and sometimes frightening experience. But Coeliac UK and Delicious Alchemy aim to help change that.

Click here to see the full menus from each hotel and pictures from the night

Click here to download the press release

Associated Links:

Leeds Thomas Danby College: http://www.leedsthomasdanby.ac.uk/about/kitchen.cfm

Mount Pleasant Hotel: http://www.mountpleasant.co.uk/hotel.htm

Rudding Park Hotel: http://www.ruddingpark.com/

Cedar Court Hotels: http://www.cedarcourthotels.co.uk/

Coeliac UK Food without Fear Campaign:
http://coeliac.org.uk/get_involved/our_campaigns/awareness_week_2008