The winner of the Cheshire heat of the Essential Cuisine North West Young Chef competition 2013 is 22-year-old Samuel Mairs from Warrington.
Sam, who is a junior sous chef at Grill on the Square in Warrington, won the Cheshire heat of the competition to complete the line up of contenders at the finals on 13th June at Manchester college.
On winning his heat Sam said: “I didn’t think I had a chance of winning. I saw the other competitors’ dishes coming past me to be served and thought they all looked really good.
“I put a lot of long nights into preparing for this competition; I really focused on what was seasonal and local to me. It’s taken a lot of hard work and practice!”
Competing at South Cheshire College, Crewe on 25th April, Sam cooked a starter of Boudin of Goosnargh chicken, Richard Wilding asparagus, wild mushrooms, morels and white wine sauce. His main course included butter poached Muncaster lobster, tempura claw, spring vegetables and Cheshire cheese sauce. He finished up with a desert of Willington Farm cox apple tart tatin, Walk Mill handmade pastry and Ampleforth brandy cream.
Sam will join four other finalists – Jaques Verite, winner of the Merseyside heat; Sam Palmer, winner of the Greater Manchester heat; Lee Brown, winner of the Lancashire heat and Daniel Akrigg, winner of the Cumbria heat.
The regional finalists get to attend a masterclass with a top chef. Last year’s finalists spent the day at Harthill Cookery School in Tattenhall with The Staff Canteen team are taking a different approach to keeping our website independent and delivering content free from commercial influence. Our Editorial team have a critical role to play in informing and supporting our audience in a balanced way. We would never put up a paywall – The Staff Canteen is open to all and we want to keep bringing you the content you want; more from younger chefs, more on mental health, more tips and industry knowledge, more recipes and more videos. We need your support right now, more than ever, to keep The Staff Canteen active. Without your financial contributions this would not be possible.
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