Gordon Takes Bronze at HRC

Chef Gordon Carberry took home bronze at the 2023 Sodexo UK and Ireland Chef of the Year competition. Gordon, who is head chef for Sodexo at VHI headquarters in Dublin, competed against eight other finalists from England, Scotland and Wales in front of a live audience at the HRC Show at ExCel London.

He is pictured (centre), receiving his medal from David Mulcahy, food innovation and sustainability director, Sodexo UK and Ireland and Steve Munkley, chef director, Salon Culinaire at the HRC show.

The theme of this year’s competition was “Celebrating Our Sustainable Future”, and the focus was on the creative use of sustainable ingredients that need to be incorporated more into daily food consumption to drive positive change in the use of natural resources. The chefs also had to create their dishes with the minimum of food wasted.

As part of their preparations, Gordon and the other finalists attended a mentor day where the team of judges got a first look at the finalists’ dishes and provided constructive feedback to take on board for the live cook-off.

Gordon and the other contestants had just 90 minutes to produce three dishes from scratch: a seasonal plant-based starter, the use of organic chicken for the entrée and a rhubarb-based dessert.

Gordon impressed the judges with his starter of Indian-spiced chickpea & lentil bonbon with a raita, carrot and pomegranate salad, pickled cucumber and chilli. His entrée was a thyme baked chicken fillet with a herb and garlic boudin, sweet potato puree, seared yellow carrots, asparagus tips and a madeira jus. Dessert was poached rhubarb with a bee pollen and pistachio crumble, oat tuile, rhubarb fool and gel.

Gordon began his career as a kitchen porter and has worked his up to senior chef positions in restaurants and on-site catering before joining Sodexo in 2022. 

The competition judges included top culinary names: Steve Scuffell, vice president, Craft Guild of Chefs; Martyn Nail, culinary director at the Dorchestor Hotel; Adam Smith, executive chef at Coworth Park, Berkshire; chef consultant Paul Gayler MBE;  Yolanda Stanley MBE of the Pastry Training Company and award-winning pastry chef consultant Sarah Hartnett.