SOUS VIDE TOOLS SHORTLISTED FOR 2017 E3 BUSINESS AWARDS | The Tool Shed

SOUS VIDE TOOLS SHORTLISTED FOR 2017 E3 BUSINESS AWARDS

Lancaster based culinary equipment supplier, Sous Vide Tools has been shortlisted as a finalist in the 2017 E3 Business Awards, which will be held at the Macron Stadium in Bolton on Thursday 13th July 2017.

The company, which supplies some of the finest culinary equipment worldwide for both the home foodie and professional chef, was selected from amongst hundreds of nominees to become one of the finalists for the prestigious ‘Online Business of the Year’ category.

Speaking on behalf of the company, Managing Director, Alex Shannon said: “we are thrilled to have made the shortlist for the online business of the year category. We have worked hard to become a progressive and respected business and are proud to have built a large customer base which includes some of the world’s leading chefs. We are delighted to achieve recognition for our achievements from such a prestigious organisation.”

“Each year, it becomes more of an achievement to win a finalist’s place,” said Mubarak Chati, managing director of 1 Events Media, which hosts the E3 Awards. “Every year since we’ve started, we’ve seen an increase in nominations and a corresponding increase in quality. This year, across all seventeen award categories, we’ve seen an increase of around 18% on last year.”

“We’ve had nominations from throughout the North West and we’ve seen real strength in all areas. One of the big surprises has been the number of entries from new businesses, digital, creative and media sectors, women in business and voluntary organisations.
It’s always been a key purpose of the Awards to celebrate the achievement of all parts of the community – not just the mainstream – women, charities and social enterprises coming forward in such numbers is very gratifying indeed.”

“Given the number and the high standard of entries, we certainly gave the Nominations Panel a difficult job. They have risen to the challenge, though, and their final selections represent the very best of the whole North West region. For Sous Vide Tools to have been named as a finalist for 2017 is an achievement of which it should be very proud.”

More information about Sous Vide Tools can be found on its website – www.sousvidetools.com – or by calling 01524 770060.

More information about the E3 Business Awards, including a full list of finalists, can be found at www. e3businessawards.co.uk.

Post by Chris Holland

Our Chef Director Chris Holland worked as Head Chef at the prestigious Alderley Edge hotel before joining us. He has a passion for using the best produce and never compromises on quality. Author of our best selling book Sous Vide The Art of Precision Cooking, Chris is a expert on the sous vide technique.During the later part of my school days at Wardle High School Rochdale I always wanted to be a chef . I knew from the very start that my path to work was never going to be academic it was always going to be something practical and hands on.

As a young boy growing up I was inspired to cook with my Grandma who was and still is an inspiration to me . I have memories of helping make the cakes that she always had made for visitors and family alike . She made the most amazing cakes and I loved nothing more than eating the sweet raw cake batter straight from the bowl . We used to fight over who got to lick the bowl/spoon after the cakes were made. My grandma’s philosophy for cooking even on a shoe string budget was always to use fresh and seasonal ingredients either home grown or bought from the market.

School was somewhat of a drag for me as I was itching to learn to become a chef.

I started at Hopwood Hall college as a chef and instantly fell in love with it .To me it was the only real time I excelled in something and this inspired me to really get my head down and put in the hard work. College was the first time I really excelled in something and gave me the opportunity to laugh at the teachers who said I would never make something of my life!!!!

During the three years at college I also took on a part time position in a local hotel working the bar and restaurant first and then the kitchen. These were great days and gave me the opportunity to see how the industry ticks. I learnt a lot from those days both good and bad !! But I have to say I was itching to work only in the kitchen but it was a good insight into the catering world .

After completing college I moved away from Rochdale for a full time roll at one of Cheshire’s most talked about Hotel restaurants The Stanneylands Hotel. This was the school of hard knocks for me as I quickly realised that although excelling at college meant nothing in “The Real World”.

I loved every minute of the 18 hour days 6 days a week on minimum wage . Although difficult I feel that without this grounding I wouldn’t have achieved what I have today. After 18 months of hard graft I left Stanneylands and went with the Head chef to open a fine dining restaurant at Mere Golf and Country Club. The opportunity to work alongside Matthew Barrett was too good to turn down. I learnt so much from the ex-Ritz chef and working in a much slower paced role helped me develop a much better understanding of how to organise and run a kitchen. We were a very small team and teamwork was and still is the only way to go for me.

After 2 years at Mere I got the opportunity to go into The Alderley Edge Hotel as Junior Souschef. The Early days at the Edge were all about learning new styles of cuising which is invaluable in any role as a chef. I got the opportunity to grow and learn all aspects of every section which was inspiring . I was offered the opportunity at the age of 29 (2004) to take the role of head chef. For me this was when I really started to develop my own style of food.

After 9 years at the top winning Cheshire restaurant of the year , Chef of the Year and appearing on GBM amongst many highlights including cooking for many celebrities and famous people I decided to move on into development with Sousvidetools.

The main inspiration for this was to train and educate people . I always had a great passion for education but could never really see myself at a college . The job is super rewarding and I am proud to say we have become the leading light in sous-vide education in the UK . This is something I am very proud of . Food is my biggest passion and this is what keeps me interested the most . I love to travel and try out other countries cuisines. I am constantly inspired by ingredients and the pursuit of getting the best out of them without destroying their natural flavour .It is super important to me to continue to try and be at the forefront of the food scene this is what inspire me and the team to keep driving forward .

Technology is now widely used in the industry and I am super proud to say we have been a big part of spreading that message.

I am very lucky to be in the position I am and the drive to constantly improve our training and links to the next generation of young budding hospitality chefs.

TI feel that my experience over the last 25 years really enables me to get close and educate the “next generation” of chefs .

The industry which I love is really struggling to bring through new recruits and if I can help that process I will be immensely proud.

The food seen in the Uk has improved dramatically over the last ten years and I feel this will continue with the correct education. What happens next only fate will tell us...

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