The foodie people on the twitterverse concocted this evening of the First Food Debate held at the Westbridge Pub in Battersea on March 5th. The organiser was James Ramsden (@jteramsden) and hosted by Charlie McVeigh.
It was a fun evening where I met a lot of the foodie twitters, too many to name here. Here are some pics from the food debate, they are some very badly angled snaps but seems to have been the few taken that night.
Here are the contestants and their ingredients:
Kavita Favelle (@KaveyF) – Cheese
Tim Hayward (@ – Pork
Rachel McCormack (@ R_McCormack )– Olive Oil
Charlie Nelson (@– Eggs
Oliver Thring (@oliverthring) – Salt
And bravely at the last minute Mathilde (@MathildeCuisine) stepped in for the Onion.
The puppeteer pulling the strings?
Kicking off the proceedings – Charlie McVeigh and James Ramsden
This was how the debate was to run (from James’ blog)
ROUND ONE
Each competitor will have 3 minutes to present their ingredient, explaining to the audience and our judges why this ingredient is so essential. The judges will then decide which two offerings were the least convincing. The first contestant will then have a minute to try and shred their opponent. The opponent will be given a minute to riposte. There will then most likely be a couple of minutes of ferocious argument (with any luck), at the end of which the audience will decide who is getting the boot. The winner of the wooden spoon will receive a hefty beverage on their exit.
ROUND TWO
The four remaining competitors each have a minute to put forward a classic dish with their ingredient at the helm – the context in which it is at its most perfect. We will then follow the same knock-out format as before, but this time with the judges putting questions to the competitors.
ROUND THREE
The debate is now opened up to the floor, with the audience putting the three remaining contestants on the spot. At the end of this round a good old fashioned show of hands will decide who is going to miss out on a place in the final.
ROUND FOUR – THE FINAL
Two remaining ingredients, two competitors, one winner. Like all sudden deaths, the final will be swift and brutal. The two contestants will get two minutes each to argue why their opponent’s choice of ingredient is crap. A show of hands will decide the champion. I can hear nails being bitten already.
In the judges’ chairs we have three formidable food fiends. Chef patron of Racine in South Kensington Henry Harris, features editor at Waitrose Food Illustrated Katy Salter, and food writer and blogger Rejina Sabur. Who needs Simon, Cheryl and Dannii when you have these three?
And if the gladiatorial combat isn’t mouth-watering enough, the Westbridge will be providing yummy things in the shape of ox tongue fritters, potted duck, squid and chorizo, ham hock terrine, and whitebait. Looking forward to seeing you down there on Friday.
The estemed judges, conspiring
From right, Chef patron of Racine in South Kensington Henry Harris, features editor at Waitrose Food Illustrated Katy Salter, and food writer and blogger Rejina Sabur.
The debaters
Pic: Oliver, Charlie, Kavey, Rachel and Mathilde
There were some very spirited arguments through the night and as the debaters fell as each round progressed, the judges had to decide on the most persuasive argument.
And the winner was ……………….. Kavey
Update: The next Food Debate is going to be on 1 June 2010, See James’ blog for more details on how to participate.
Goodness, that’s a fun reminder of a terrifying experience!