Samuel Tebbatt – prawn category WINNER & finalist of the British sandwich & food to go designer of the year, 2022
Sam is a Development Chef at Melton Foods, a Samworth Brothers Food-To-Go Division and winner of this year's prawn category and finalist of the British sandwich & food to go designer of the year, 2022
At the final of the 2022 Sandwich & FTG Designer of the Year Award, the judges, sponsors and finalists returned to the Royal Lancaster in London for the final stage of the competition. The atmosphere was particularly buzzing and we caught up with Samuel Tebbatt – Development Chef at Greencore Manton Wood and finalist of this year’s British and Food to Go Sandwich Designer Award
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?
I’m Sam, Development Chef at Melton Foods, a Samworth Brothers Food-To-Go Division.
I have been in Food Manufacturing for 4 years, and loving it! In a nutshell create recipes for Sandwiches & Wraps for leading UK retailers.
Prior to this I was working in some of the East Midlands’ most prestigious restaurants & venues for just shy of a decade. There, I was surrounded by a wonderful myriad of flavours & spice and all things nice. Being in these environments was incredible and wonderfully artistic- I like to think a small amount of creativity has rubbed off on me.
I really enjoy food in all shapes and sizes; big dirty food to dainty, delicate & refined- I have a natural curiosity to understand & make lots of it.
The NPD environment we have at Samworth Brothers FTG is a perfect exploratory laboratory to do just this. I really enjoy having exposure to the Commercial aspects of the business & industry and the foodie side- there’s always a great balance & a superb team.
Creatively & artistically speaking, it doesn’t stop there for me- I’m a shoegazing bedroom guitarist & I regularly perform at Loughborough Town Hall with a few Amateur Societies. When none of the above are in my head, I’m father to Fleur and husband to the wonderful Stephanie.
What were the reasons, motivations to enter the Sandwich & FTG Designer Award competition?
I was a little apprehensive at first, and didn’t think I had anything viable- although, I had always wanted to enter, as it seemed fun & a platform my creative side needed. It didn’t take too much encouragement, because I realised it opened a flood of creativity- I was hooked.
It gave to different thinking and I really let myself go when I was working out how to present the sandwich- I like to think of it as extreme disciplined spontaneity.
“Hello Seaside” – What’s in the name and where did the inspiration come from?
I have to thank the chefs’ at Samworth Brothers Food-To-Go Division for the name- we all tasted this months ago, alongside many other products. Someone said “Oh, hello…”, when they ate it, and was very much a lightbulb moment. I knew immediately that that’s what it had to be called. It fit right in with the nostalgia I was drawing from- for me, I think you can get a very good idea of what type of sandwich it is from the off, but there is still plenty of surprise that goes with it.
The inspiration behind it, was memories of eating Scampi & Chips as a young boy in Norfolk and later, Cornwall- every summer we would visit my Aunt and would forage for samphire, and religiously gorge on (responsibly sourced) seafood!
It was a no brainer that this is what my sandwich had to be about. The peas are a nod to the Chip Shop staple, and I really allowed myself to indulge in something so very traditional, so it had to be made with tartare sauce, too.
The presentation of the sandwich is essentially a memory for me; the shells, pebbles, and sand- I added the sand timer because of its connotations to time- things may be in the past, but all you have to do is turn the timer and relive that memory. Visually, the shells, pebbles and timer added a different dimension and, hopefully, drew your eye to the front to begin the visual story, before indulging the tastebuds.
If you were in charge of the Queen’s Jubilee Tea Party … what would we find on the table?
I think there would be a million and one things, very much like a medieval banquet, where each plate & dish was connected to Her Majesty in a very provocative & emotive way. Most importantly, there would not be any courses, it would be a free for all- Venison from the Highlands estates, amazing Lavabread from Wales, Melton Mowbray pork pies, Cornish scallops, sweet & juicy apples from Kent… the list could go on! I think there would be mini fireworks, flames, smoke and utter indulgence. There would be a nod to all things platinum in and on the food with the finest ingredients these shores have to offer. Let me know if the caterers drop out.
