Double Victory for VSC Chef

In last month’s Club Life newsletter, we were delighted to share that the Victory Services Club has scooped first place in two categories of the annual Venues of Excellence Cook and Serve Challenge. The winning Chef was Dilhan Sariffo’deen who is a Demi Chef de Partie and Kitchen Manager at the Club, His wins were in were in the Junior Category and were for Best Starter and Best Main Course. We thought you would like to know a little more about Dilhan and his winning dishes.

We catch up with Dilhan to find out about his background, his influences and the winning courses.

How long have you been at the VSC and what is your culinary background?

“I joined the VSC about 18 months ago when I came to the UK from Sri Lanka. I started as a Commis Chef, and then I was promoted to Demi Chef de Partie and Kitchen Manager.

“I first entered the industry in Australia when I was 15 years old, I worked part time under my father who is also a chef. When we returned to Sri Lanka, I attended catering college. My culinary motivation definitely comes from my father and my upbringing; I do enjoy bringing Sri Lankan flavours and influences to my cooking.”

Tell us about the Cook and Serve competition and how you became involved.

“The Cook and Serve Challenge is a competition for Venues of Excellence members to create culinary masterpieces and provide outstanding service to invited guests. Venues are given the challenge of preparing and serving a three-course menu that showcases the chef’s personality and their venue, using a minimum of five ingredients from a provided list. It recognises the best individual courses and service in both junior and senior categories. This year 14 teams took part from 13 venues.

“Paul, our Executive Head Chef forwarded the details to me and both Paul and Mark, our General Manager encouraged me to enter. I like to challenge myself, so I was keen to take part. It was a lovely thing to partake in, even though it was a lot of hard work and there was a good deal of stress involved. But I’m happy with how it all turned out.”

Why did you choose the ingredients that you did?

“I looked at the list of ingredients and was pleased to see they had seafood. I consulted with Paul and also our Head Chef Anil who are both very thorough and knowledgeable. I chose two of the listed ingredients for each of the courses, and then we came up with a classic menu that I then enhanced with my unique Sri Lankan touches.”

Dhilan’s winning dishes were:

Best Starter: Sri Lankan spiced crispy battered haddock with poached scallop mousse wrapped in courgette served with a watercress and clam Hollandaise.

Best Main Course: Beef tenderloin with mushroom and Stilton bon-bon, served with asparagus, smoked beetroot, truffle oil, celeriac, artichoke pommes puree and a green peppercorn jus.

What was your inspiration behind the dishes?

“I worked with Valen, our waiter for the day; we matched the food with the wines, and I added a bit of Sri Lankan style. Sri Lankans like our food a touch spicy, so I used a little green chili to spice up the scallops and give them a bit of a kick. For the haddock batter I sautéed some shallots and chilies with some Sri Lankan curry powder, which included cinnamon, coriander, cumin seeds, turmeric and chili powder, then I added some vodka which actually helps the batter become crispy.

“For my main course, I chose beef tenderloin. This is such a classic dish, so I didn’t want to add too much Sri Lankan influence. I added celeriac puree, asparagus and a green peppercorn jus. I created the jus by taking the beef pan, deglazing it with white wine and then added green pepper corns and brandy and finished it off with cream.

“The desert was quite simple; an apple tarte tatin, but the star of the show was homemade cashew and maple ice cream. We have lots of cashews in Sri Lanka, I love them and wanted to include them in the meal.”

How did the competition go?

“I tried not to get too nervous, but I couldn’t help it at the end. Working in a strange kitchen was a challenge, but it was a great experience, and I learnt a lot from it. Being quite young, I feel I really need to put myself out there and grab every opportunity to learn as much as possible. It was a very stressful experience, but I’m pleased we did well.”

What does it mean to you to win?

“Winning means a lot to me, it proves that hard work does pay off, and means a lot. Really excited about it. Hard work does pay off. I’d like to thank Paul and Mark for encouraging me to enter and also a huge thank you to the entire kitchen team for supporting my efforts as I practiced and who kept me focused. It really was a team effort.”

Subsequent to this success, Dilhan has won a further culinary award to add to his collection. The VSC is fortunate to have this young, talented chef.