Clark shocked to win top chef title
When Elbow Beach chef Terry Clark's name was called at the recent Gourmet Getaway Gala Dinner, he thought there'd been some mistake.
Mr. Clark, chef de cuisine at the Seahorse Grill, was the winner of the Escoffier Cup, a tough competition designed to find Bermuda's top chef. The Escoffier Cup finals were held on the last day of the Viking Village earlier this month.
"I was a bit surprised when they called my name," said Mr. Clark. "All the entries were very good. I really didn't know until the end which one would win. Obviously, one hopes to win, but I really didn't know. I was very surprised when they called my name. It was good."
Mr. Clark said the competition was "good fun", but went by in a blur.
"It all happened so quick and there was a rush to get to the end," he said. "I have been in a few smaller competitions, but nothing in Bermuda."
He is originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, and came to Bermuda two years ago after cooking at the five star Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London, England. "The Elbow Beach Hotel was looking for a chef, managed by Mandarin," he said. "So then I came here. I had only heard of Bermuda shorts before. I really didn't know much about the Island at all. This is pretty much exactly what I expected, although I thought maybe there would be more open land than there is."
The chef said he finds Bermuda very pretty, and he is enjoying his first experience living beside the ocean.
Being in Bermuda has also given him a greater opportunity to visit the United States.
He recently went with two other local chefs to Mexico to compete in the Annual US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Chef Competition held at the renowned Le Cordon Bleu Academy.
However, he said The Escoffier Cup Competition was done in an entirely different format, with only 40 minutes to come up with a dish compared to the two hours in the Mexican competition.
No advanced preparation or cooking was allowed. Vegetables could be washed, and the competitors were allowed to bring in a few basic things like stock or pre-soaked beans.
In the Escoffier Cup, Mr. Clark went head to head with three other finalists including Gerry Adams from the Salt Rock Grill, Beat Muller of the Newport Room and Vijayakumar (VJ) Velayudhan also of the Seahorse Grill.
"The four of us all got up there and gave it our best shot," said Mr. Clark.
To get to the final round chefs had to first compete in semi-final rounds of either beef tri-tips, pork, cod or duck. In the final round the chefs worked with beef tenderloin.
The winning entry was Seared Tenderloin of Beef with a Foie Gras and Truffle Croquette 'Rossini', Morel with Chicken and Tarragon Mousse and Bitter Chocolate sauce.
"Chocolate in cooking is becoming more popular in the United States," said Mr. Clark. "Mexico uses cocoa a lot in their sauces. It is not sweet, it is an interesting taste."
To come up with the winning entry, Mr. Clark practised for about two weeks. He and Mr. Velayudhan also helped each other to prepare for the competition.
"VJ and I had a healthy rivalry," Mr. Clark said.
"He would set up and I would watch and comment and he would do the same for me. There was no animosity or anything. This is the second restaurant that VJ and I have (both) worked in. We worked in the same hotel in London at different times."
The Escoffier Cup is quickly becoming a prestige symbol in the hotel and restaurant community. Having Bermuda's top chef affords a restaurant bragging rights. As a result many restaurant owners and chefs come out to watch the competition at the semi-final and final stages. Originally, Mr. Clark wanted to be in hotel management, rather than in the kitchen.
"I did cooking in school and enjoyed it," he said. "I thought I was going to be the next big hotel manager. I went off to hotel school and did hotel management, but I hated being at the front of the hotel. In the hotel management programme, we had to do six months internship in the kitchen. I thought, this is interesting. I wasn't the sort of person who enjoyed dealing with guests. I finished my diploma at Technikon South Africa and went back to the kitchen and started working there."
Mr. Clark comes from a family which loves to cook. Both of his parents, and his brother enjoyed being in the kitchen.
"I just grew up enjoying it," he said. "All my friends use to come around all the time, because my parents cooked. My father was very interested in Asian cooking and my mother was always cutting out recipes."
He said that South Africa is an interesting place in terms of "traditional" South African cooking. "There are few dishes that are known to be South African, but I wouldn't say we make them that often. Babotie is a traditional South African dish. It is curried ground beef in an egg custard baked in the oven."
Other South African dishes might include sosatie, kebabs marinated in a curry mixture and bredie, slowly cooked stews rich in meat, tomatoes and spices.
"You have everything in one country so you have all these different pieces. I have been away from South Africa for almost my entire career. I do hope to go back when I have finished my travels."
