Cooking up a storm
Just recently,
Gareth was approached about being the prize for the 2012 Knorr Student Chef of the Year awards. Yup, that's right - the winner won Gareth, or at least a half days photoshoot with him...and Gareth was more than happy to oblige.
The competition, which is in its 15th year and the biggest competition of its kind in Ireland, saw ten finalists battle it out in a tightly fought two hour cook off at the Cork Institute of Technology. But it was Shane Deane from Kilbrittain who finally took the top spot with his dish of pan-fried fillet of Gurnard with gazpacho tagliatelle and clams for starter and seared loin of wild venison with Waterfall farm vegetables, nettle and wild garlic essence for his main course (sounds pretty darn good, doesn't it!).
Both dishes, which had to use at least two Knorr products, were very much in line with this year's theme of 'Irish Fusion; and received rare reviews from the judging panel.
So onto the big shoot day. Rather then simply going to a straightforward photo shoot, Gareth wanted to give Shane a bit more of an insight into the world of food photography. With the help of food stylist Kim Morphew, Gareth talked Shane through the role of the food photographer, the food stylist, prop stylist and art director, to really give him a true understanding of what's involved in this kind of shoot.
