Buxton chef conquers culinary competition with incredible edible sculpture

University of Derby catering lecturer Rob Stordy claimed two gold medal’s at this year’s University Caterers’ Organisation Salon Culinaire, a nationwide culinary arts competition.

Rob used pastry margarine to sculpt a statute of the legendary conqueror Alexander the Great astride his horse Bucephalus, earning him Best in Class in a contest which tests the skills of the country’s best university chefs.

He created the sculpture, based on a bronze statuette, at his home in Buxton using ten kilograms of pastry margarine, which has a similar consistency to plasticine.

Rob said: “It’s something I like doing, but I treat it more as a hobby.”

While the real Alexander famously survived all his battles, Rob’s version is a little more delicate.

He said: “When I was carrying it downstairs, I caught its front leg on the doorknob and I had to repair it.”

Rob added that driving to the University of Warwick for the judging was a nightmare as he tried to spare Alexander from potholes in the roads.

A former University Chef of the Year, Rob also picked up an award for his more conventional plated desserts, taking his career tally to four gold medals.

He cooked up a lemon meringue with a limoncello curd plus a liquorice and lemon sorbet topped with a truffle tuile, liquorice gel, lemon glass tuile; and a chocolate parfait with salted caramel sauce, cinnamon popcorn and chocolate soil—a type of crumble.

For more details on the university’s catering courses, visit www.derby.ac.uk.