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WELSH NATIONAL CULINARY TEAM
BUSY YEAR AHEAD FOR GLOBETROTTING WELSH CHEF
Immediate: January 10, 2014
2014 promises to be a busy and exciting year for Graham Tinsley, one of Wales’ top chefs.
Mr Tinsley, who manages the globetrotting Welsh National Culinary Team, is executive chef at De Vere Carden Park near Chester and a director of the Castle Hotel, Conwy.
He has been invited to be the celebrity speaker at the Canadian Restaurant Association’s annual meeting in Toronto in early March and will also manage the Welsh team and judge at the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg in November.
Mr Tinsley, who was awarded an MBE in 2006 for his services to the food industry in Wales, will speak to the Canadian chefs about his experience of cooking for royalty. Over the years, he has cooked for the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, Prince Edward and visiting royalty from around the world.
During his visit to Toronto with his wife Sharon, he will also give cooking demonstrations and attend a couple of gourmet dinners in the city at restaurants run by famous chefs, including Michael Banacini, with whom he worked at The Dorchester, London early in his career.
Having developed a keen interest in developing recipes for people suffering from Crohn’s disease, due to his wife’s illness, he may also be invited to talk to Canadian groups during his stay.
He eventually hopes to publish a recipe book for people with Crohn’s disease. “It’s a really horrible disease and I would like to help people who are in a similar situation to Sharon,” he explained.
“Knowing what she went through before the illness was diagnosed two years ago, it’s important that people suffering from the disease receive every bit of help they can get to nurse them back to health.
“People with the disease have to be so careful with what they eat. It’s a very complex disease because it affects individuals in different ways in terms what they can tolerate in their diet.”
In November, Mr Tinsley will be attending the Culinary World Cup for the sixth time in his career. Although he will be helping the Welsh senior and junior teams prepare for the competition, this time he has to take somewhat of a back seat, as is one of 40 chefs from around the globe that have been asked to judge at the prestigious competition.
“The Culinary World Cup is my favourite because it’s an evening competition and there’s always a good, friendly atmosphere there,” he said. “Wales has won two gold medals at the competition in the past and the senior team will be keen to carry on their good work from the recent Dubai World Hospitality Championship.”
In Dubai, Wales won gold medals and finished fourth overall against the world’s best teams. Senior team selection will begin early in the new year, while the junior team is already begun preparing for the major competition.
Picture caption:
Graham Tinsley – busy 2014 ahead.
