Leading FM services provider Sodexo arranged the master class, which was held at the Underground Cookery School in London, for a selection of its head chefs as part of the organisation’s chef development programme.

Following a live demonstration by Hulstone, which included an in-depth briefing on event partner Kikkoman’s soy sauce, chefs worked in pairs to prepare a dish suitable for street food from a mystery box of ingredients.

The overall winners on the day were Robert Purtill, who works at Johnson & Johnson in High Wycombe, Bucks, and Craig Deverson, head chef at CITB in Bircham Newton. Their dishes that met the strict brief and wowed the judges were: Kikkoman prawns on lemongrass skewers, served with coconut rice cakes, followed by a Moroccan lamb stew.

On organising events such as this to help improve skills and develop the abilities of Sodexo’s chefs, Sodexo craft and food development director David Mulcahy said: “These master classes are an opportunity for celebrated chefs such as Simon to share their knowledge, experience and passion with fellow chefs.

“You can never be too qualified to attend one of these events – you will always learn something and our chefs today will all be taking back new ideas and concepts to their respective sites.”

Bing-yu Lee, general manager at Kikkoman UK, added: “We were delighted that so many Sodexo chefs took part in the master class. Simon Hulstone is an excellent ambassador for Kikkoman and his demonstration really showed the chefs what a versatile ingredient Kikkoman soy sauce is and how it can be used as an everyday seasoning.”