Pease pud and pork tenderloin will be on the menu when chef Kenny Atkinson joins James Martin on TV’s Saturday Kitchen tomorrow. KATHARINE CAPOCCI has the details
KENNY Atkinson, one of the North East’s most celebrated chefs, is set to appear on BBC1’s popular Saturday Kitchen cookery show tomorrow.
And in typical Kenny style, on the menu will be a dish with a real regional flavour, featuring juicy pork tenderloin and pease pudding.
It’s exciting times for the chef, a big champion of North East produce, as his TV appearance comes just days before the 2011 Catey Awards, the catering industry’s top awards, on Tuesday, where he is shortlisted in the category for Menu of the Year.
For Kenny, 34, head chef at five-star Rockliffe Hall’s Orangery Restaurant in Hurworth-on-Tees, near Darlington, it’s his third appearance on the TV show.
The weekly food show, which airs tomorrow at 10am, is frequented by the country’s top chefs and celebrity guests. Kenny will be cooking roast pork tenderloin with pease pudding and a salad of pickled baby carrots.
The celebrated chef has twice been a winner of the BBC TV series The Great British Menu and was also named Chef of the Year 2009 at The Cateys. He won Michelin stars at Seaham Hall in County Durham and prior to that at Tean’s on the Isles of Scilly.
Kenny, who is currently making his mark at Kenny Atkinson at the Orangery at Rockliffe Hall, is looking forward to his latest TV stint. “I’m delighted to be back on TV and doing what I love best – cooking.
“I had such a great time on Saturday Kitchen the last few times and am a huge fan of the show anyway.
“I’ll be hoping to give budding chefs at home some great tips on how to create a stunning dish in minutes, and I am proud to carry a regional feel to the food I will be presenting.
“It will then be an exciting week as we have been shortlisted for Menu of the Year at the Caterer and Hotelkeeper magazine’s annual awards, The Cateys.”
Kenny, originally from Newcastle, opened The Orangery restaurant last year.
Within weeks he was appearing on the Great British Menu and shot to national fame with his winning mackerel dish.
Kenny has remained fiercely loyal to produce available from the region and has used that as the inspiration for his menus.
DELI’S GOT GREAT TASTE
A NEWCASTLE deli has vowed to make it “third time lucky” in 2012 after just missing out on a prestigious food award for the second time.
Grainger Market-based ‘mmm…’ was awarded runner-up spot in the UK Deli of the Year competition, from almost 400 others across the country.
The deli, which supports small food producers in the region, has been on a mission to get more people eating local produce.
Owner Simone Clarkin, 49, was delighted to have got so close – but says she is aiming for the top spot next year.
She says: “By working with small producers such as Davenport’s Chocolates, Curiously Wicked, Mr Vikki’s, Hot Stuff Chilli, Yellowfields and Gilchesters we are definitely helping to raise the profile of the fantastic artisan food being produced here.”
The UK winner will be announced at the Great Taste Awards dinner in London on September 5.
mmm… is at Unit 12/13 of the Grainger Arcade in the Grainger Market.
