THE SECOND DEBATE – 1st June 2010

After some U.N. style negotiations with Mr McVeigh and some cultural jousting with a certain Franco-Irish food writer, the time has come to officially reveal the details of the next food debate.

For those of you who missed the first one in early March, there was rivalry and ribaldry, weeping and wobbling as Kavey Favelle, Ollie Thring, Rachel McCormack, Charlie Nelson and Mathilde Delville all wrestled it out for the one indispensable ingredient. Kavey ‘the cracker’ Favelle was eventually victorious with her impassioned argument for cheese.

But that was then and this, as they say, is now. So come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough. We’re looking for 5 contestants to step up and argue the case for:

WHICH COUNTRY HAS THE BEST FOOD?

Make of that what you will. If you fancy having a go then email your country of choice to the address below, with a reason for your decision. The five finalists will be announced in May.

Start your engines.

Email submissions to thelarderlout@hotmail.com

The Food Debate will be held on 1st June at The Draft House in Battersea. Tickets are £5.

THE RULES

I was originally going to only reveal the format of the debate on the night itself, but it has been suggested by one of the competitors that this would be cruel, brutal even. So, here’s what’s going down:

ROUND ONE

Each competitor will have 3 minutes to present their ingredient, explaining to the audience and our judges why this ingredient is so essential. The judges will then decide which two offerings were the least convincing. The first contestant will then have a minute to try and shred their opponent. The opponent will be given a minute to riposte. There will then most likely be a couple of minutes of ferocious argument (with any luck), at the end of which the audience will decide who is getting the boot. The winner of the wooden spoon will receive a hefty beverage on their exit.

ROUND TWO

The four remaining competitors each have a minute to put forward a classic dish with their ingredient at the helm – the context in which it is at its most perfect. We will then follow the same knock-out format as before, but this time with the judges putting questions to the competitors.

ROUND THREE

The debate is now opened up to the floor, with the audience putting the three remaining contestants on the spot. At the end of this round a good old fashioned show of hands will decide who is going to miss out on a place in the final.

ROUND FOUR – THE FINAL

Two remaining ingredients, two competitors, one winner. Like all sudden deaths, the final will be swift and brutal. The two contestants will get two minutes each to argue why their opponent’s choice of ingredient is crap. A show of hands will decide the champion. I can hear nails being bitten already.

THE JUDGES

We have two beautiful and talented judges in the shape of Katy Salter and Rejina Sabur, who are impervious to bribery, flattery, and violent threats. Probably.

For a reminder of who is arguing for what, see the below post.

THE COMPETITORS

Cue the Rocky theme tune, here are the gastronomic big guns who will be grinding each other down to a fine breadcrumb-like dust on the 5th March:

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OLIVER ‘the sage’ THRING will be fighting for SALT as the most indispensable ingredient in our larders;

CHARLIE ‘the chopper’ NELSON will be clucking about EGGS in his bid for the ultimate prize;

KAVEY ‘the cracker’ FAVELLE is going to slice you and serve you on a Jacob’s in the name of CHEESE;

RACHEL ‘the scotch bonnet’ MCCORMACK is going to drizzle you silly in favour of OLIVE OIL;

and finally, TIM ‘the ham hock’ HAYWARD is going to be showing, and probably eating, brains and brawn to keep PORK in our pantry.

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If that’s not a line up to make you salivate (and it bloody well should be), The Westbridge will also be serving up some grub:

Ox Tongue Fritters
Squid and chorizo
Prawns
Ham hock terrine
Potted duck
Whitebait

Details are below, but, in a nutshell, the debate is on the 5th of March in The Westbridge pub in Battersea. Come on down to drink, eat, and heckle your little buns off.

Tickets are £10 and all proceeds go to the Haiti Earthquake appeal.

You are cordially invited…

You are invited to the Westbridge pub in Battersea on 5th March 2010 for a night of fierce debate and furrowed brows.

This is what’s happening:

5 willing, and quite possibly insane contestants will each choose the one ingredient that they couldn’t live without.

They will then argue their case until there are two ingredients left. The remaining two will fight to the death to determine the King of Ingredients. At this point 1000 doves will be released and Delia Smith will do a striptease for the winner.

The format of the debate itself will not be revealed until on the night. If you would like to take part in The Food Debate email jteramsden@googlemail.com with your desired ingredient and a line as to why you think it is indispensable.

Otherwise rock up for some good grub, good booze, and the chance to watch some of the finest minds in food thrash it out. Heckling encouraged.

The Food Debate
5th March 2010
The Westbridge,
74 Battersea Bridge Road,
SW11 3AG

From 6pm.
Food served from 7.
The Debate starts at 8.

Tickets are £10, all proceeds will go to the Haiti Earthquake appeal. Spaces are relatively (if not outrageously) limited, so please email or DM me (twitter.com/thelarderlout) for tickets.