Never mind pistols at dawn, it was dicing at dusk as four of Britain’s best chefs pitted their skills against each other in a friendly cook-off at the Cotswold House Hotel in Chipping Campden.

Around 60 diners enjoyed the four-course meal in Juliana’s restaurant.

Under starters orders were Damian Clisby, head chef at Cotswold House; Lee Streeton of Brown’s Hotel in Mayfair; James Golding of Whitley Ridge Hotel in the New Forest and award-winning chef Mark Hix, who owns Hix restaurants in London and Lyme Regis.

Each was tasked with creating one course and selecting a wine to accompany it, but on the night they all pitched in to make sure the dinner was a success in its entirety.

Beforehand, guests had an opportunity to sip Champagne, nibble canapes and mingle with the four, who have known each other for about ten years, since they worked at Caprice Holdings, which owns celebrity haunts The Ivy and Le Caprice.

The gastro experience kicked off with Mark Hix’s De Beauvoir smoked salmon ‘Hix cure’, which came with fennel salad and Evesham asparagus.

Mark had cured the organic fish with sea salt for 11 hours, before smoking it with apple and oak. A deceptively simple dish, it was positively bursting with flavour and perfectly complemented by a 2008 Picpoul de Pinet Domaine Félines Jourdan.

For the next course it was over to James Golding, who had chosen a dish featuring poached free-range duck egg and air-dried Hampshire saddleback ham. This tasty dish was presented on a bed of Whitley garden leaves with wild nettle dressing. It was matched with a 2007 Riesling Reserve Cave de Hunawihr.

The third course was the work of the Cotswold House’s resident chef Damian Clisby, who pulled out all the stops with his Cornish lamb, taking roast loin and teaming it with lingot beans, basil and pine nut and lamb jus.

It was washed down with a stunning 2005 Côtes Du Rhône Cuvee Félicité Domaine des Bouzons.

The fourth and final course, my favourite, was created by Lee Streeton. Trinity burnt cream, a crème brulee-style dessert, included Julian Temperley’s delicious eau de vie cherries and was accompanied by a glass of 2005 Chateau Mouras Graves Superiéures.

Finally, the gourmet extravaganza was rounded off with coffee and petit fours.

As the chefs emerged from the kitchen after service had finished, they were all greeted with huge applause and it was generally agreed that each and every course had been impressive.

Mark Hix commented: “This is a rare occasion that the four of us are working together, but we are considering doing future events like this one.”

Chefs are notorious for being highly strung, so was it a case of too many cooks in the kitchen?

Quite the opposite, according to Damian, who reported there was “a good banter in the kitchen” and that he, Lee and James had deferred to Mark as head chef during service. Mark said: “The important thing is to have fun. A lot of people take it much too seriously. You create something unique each time. Every day throws up a different challenge.”