Royal dinner date for daring chefs

The Countess of Wessex is the Ship's Sponsor and will visit the new Type 45 Destroyer in Glasgow in December. The HMS Daring chefs had taken part in the annual cooking skills competition and impressed her with their achievements at the event. Leading Logistics AJ Smith from Redditch, was part of the Royal Navy team that had won the Gold Best In Class award in the Parade de Chefs competition. Logistics Aiden Matthews from Leeds, was awarded a Certificate of Merit for his dish of lamb loin in a mint and parsley wrap, served on a bed of mushroom risotto in the Junior Lamb Dish category. Logs Matthews said: "The category tested a range of skills, like butchery, sauce making skills and making covers for two people." First Officer Pat Prunty, Royal Navy Team Captain for the Combined Services Culinary Challenge, said: "I was very pleased with the way that the Royal Navy team as a whole performed and we're looking to do even better performance at next year's Combined Services Culinary Challenge. "It was the icing on the cake for the HMS Daring chefs who met The Countess of Wessex and she was very appreciative of all the effort that had gone into the preparation and the events at the Culinary Challenge." The Combined Services Culinary Challenge is a showcase for the professionalism, skills and expertise of catering staff across the armed forces and featured all types of catering needed by the services. In its eighth year, the event develops the chefs' culinary skills, nurtures pride in their professional achievement and builds team spirit for the ultimate benefit of the Armed Forces as a whole.