A special message from The Tarragons of Virtue

Hola! Billy and Melanie - Nom Nom Nom 2010 winners at heart - here with a special plea. You see... we didn't win the competition, but as it turns out, we get another chance in the form of this blog post. So what our culinary skills lack, we hope to make up with literary persuasion. Who needs the best blogger-prepared three course meal in London when you have the power of language?

A few reasons why you may want to consider voting for us....

1. Our menu: A lovely avocado soup with ceviche, followed by apricot and pine nut stuffed pork loin that featured some of the best crackling we've ever tasted and an absolutely crackin' Cranachan featuring gorgeous caramelised oats, gooseberries and whisky cream.








2. Preparedness: It's all well and good to look up and practice recipes, but how many teams actually did a dry run of the Marylebone High Street Waitrose so as not to lose time the night before? We credit our knowledge of the floor plan to nabbing the last two limes in the shop.

3. Quick-thinking: When Billy accidentally dropped and splattered gooseberries down the Cookery School wall, we acted quick (well, after laughing for a bit) and salvaged the disaster

4. Boozey dessert: Who wouldn't like fresh Glenmorangie 12-year Whipped Cream?

5. A good match: Billy does meat and booze, Melanie does everything else (and also booze). Even though we didn't win, we're really proud of what we put together. Melanie loved Billy's pork stuffing so much, she made a little meal of it when the Nom'ers sat down to eat. No matter what, we tried our best, and walked away with smiles.

Thanks for listening to our humble plea. Even if you don't vote for us (or hell, even vote!), make sure that you enter the Nom Nom Nom raffle by donating to Action Against Hunger. Each £10 donation buys you one virtual raffle ticket to go for prizes like three month's supply of Chilango burritos, booze, or even a posh food mixer from Philips. It's for a far better cause than Billy and Melanie's sense of pride.

We also want to quickly thank everyone involved in Nom Nom Nom this year: Annie Mole, TikiChris and everyone at The Cookery School - especially Ros and Claudine. We had an absolute blast and can't wait for next year. Finally, congrats to Danny and Rachel, Robin and Kate, Jia and Ben, and Kai and Jon for being far better cooks than us.

Vote for Tarragons of Virtue here