Jockey Club Catering spent the day illustrating the diversity and quality of its offering at the fifteen Jockey Club racecourses around England at their Showcase Day held at Epsom Racecourse last week. The day aims to promote and educate, highlighting new innovations in all aspects of the racecourses to members of the Jockey Club Racecourses and sponsors and guests.

The Jockey Club Catering teams from each of the racecourses presented their wares showcasing wonderful concepts including the Sensory Garden, the local larder including cheeses from producers all near to a local racecourse and the new exciting retail concepts. This included a new Prosecco Bar in conjunction with Bisol and Bibendum with the following Proseccos on taste: Belstar Prosecco DOC Brut, Jeio Prosecco Superiore di Valdobbiadene DOCG Brut and Cru Vigneti del Fol Prosecco Superiore di Valdobbiadene DOCG Extra Dry. In addition, there was a stunning fountain filled by Magnums of Moët et Chandon at the evening event.

As MC for the day, The Wine Tipster presented the Jockey Club Catering Wine List, which highlights the best of British in addition to a stunning selection of New and Old World Wines.

There was an intense and exciting Ready, Steady Cook Competition between the four Jockey Club teams of London, East, West and North. In the half an hour allotted the teams produced a broad array of beautifully produced dishes, with no previous knowledge of the ingredients available. The London team just came out on top in a very tight and entertaining competition.

One of the highlights of the day was the College Chefs Competition where 3 teams of 6 young chefs from South Thames Catering College were challenged to create a grazing menu consisting of 2 starters (1 veggie), 2 mains (1 veggie), 1 dessert, to serve a total of 50 guests. The winners were invited up on stage to receive a voucher each as well as a copy of Michel Roux Jr’s latest book, The French Kitchen. These young stars will also have the opportunity to work at Epsom in the near future.Albert and Michel Roux Jr have a long standing association with Jockey Club Catering and The Wine Tipster was given the opportunity to chat with them after the competition. He posed many questions delving into their interest in racing as well as top advice for aspiring chefs and trends in the food they are cooking both at the racecourse restaurants, their own restaurants and at home. The Wine Tipster was hoping for an invitation to Sunday lunch! It was wonderful to part of such a collaborative and exciting day reinforcing the joys of a day out at the races. You can enjoy a flavour of the day in this fantastic video