The National Chef of the Year competition is set to be bigger than ever and the Craft Guild of Chefs has announced that chefs have more time to be part of this year’s event. Due to popular demand, the Guild has extended the deadline to enter until midnight on the 12th April 2019.
On the National Chef of the Year website, chefs can access a wealth of information to help them complete their entries including advice on taking food photos, tips on entering from former finalists and insight on this year’s brief. To be part of this year’s competition, chefs must submit a three-course menu that they can create in just two hours, if they are selected to compete at the semi-final stage.
Once online entries close, all fully submitted menus will be analysed by an expert panel of judges including Gary Jones, Alyn Williams and Philip Howard. Judging is completed anonymously and only the most impressive menus are cooked up in the next round.
Chefs must create the ‘Perfect Egg Dish’ starter served hot, of the competitor’s choice. This must be suitable for a spring/summer menu and be perfectly balanced. Judges are looking for a beef main course to include two cuts and two cooking methods. The beef must be sourced from the UK and competitors should indicate the breed of beef, farm sourced from and maturation period.
For the dessert, chefs must create a delicious chocolate tart incorporating or garnished with seasonal fruits. Chefs are advised to focus on skills, creating the perfect pastry, filling, texture and overall execution of dessert.
David Mulcahy, Vice-President of the Craft Guild of Chefs said: “I would encourage all chefs to grab this extra time and incredible opportunity and get involved in the competition. You only need to look through Kuba Winkowski’s social media channels or watch Great British Menu to see the opportunities that being part of the competition will bring. It’s life-changing for those chefs who want to be part of the ultimate challenge in the culinary world. Our judges are ready and waiting to discover the next winner who will follow in the footsteps of some of the biggest names in hospitality, including Gordon Ramsay, Simon Hulstone, Alyn Williams, Mark Sargeant and David Everitt-Matthias.”
To enter the competition, chefs should complete the entry form at www.nationalchefoftheyear.co.uk. It is open to chefs who are 24 years or older as of February 1st, 2019. Competitors may come from all areas of the hospitality business including hotels, restaurants, pubs, contract catering, fine dining, private and public sectors. Competitors may be working in the UK or overseas.
The National Chef of the Year competition is run in partnership with KNORR and Lockhart Catering Equipment and is supported by British Premium Meats, CCS, Churchill, Direct Seafood, Evolve, HIT Training, Mash, Ritter Courivaud, Santa Maria, UNOX, Sous Vide Tools, OpenTable and WearerTech.
This year’s heats will take place at Sheffield College on Tuesday, 11th June, and at Le Cordon Bleu in London on Tuesday, 18th June. Ten chefs will go through to the National Chef of the Year final, which takes place at The Restaurant Show on Tuesday, 1st October 2019.
