Slicing and dicing their way to finals
YOUNG chefs from the Hinckley area have steamed, sliced and diced their way to the finals of the 2018 UK Young Seafood Chef of the Year competition.
Callum Wood, 18, from Hinckley and Dean Burham, 18, from Desford, won their regional heat in Norwich, while they study a NVQ Level 3 Diploma and Level 2 in Professional Cookery respectively at North Warwickshire and Hinckley College.
The pair worked as a team to impress judges with their three-course seafood menu using sustainably sourced seafood.
Each team will again have to impress the judging panel of seafood professionals during the finale at The Grimsby Institute, sponsored by Seafish, a public body that supports the £6 billion UK seafood industry.
The panel includes Ben Bartlett, Master Craft Guild of Chefs, Franck Pontais, Chef author, Nikki Hawkins of Seafish, George McIvor, Master Chefs of Great Britain and Galton Blackiston, owner of Michelin star restaurant, Morston Hall, in Norfolk.
Ms Hawkins said: “The level of talent displayed at the competition this year has been outstanding.
“The UK Young Seafood Chef of the Year competition is designed to encourage young chefs to think about cooking with sustainable seafood, and to see the innovative ways they used seafood in their dishes was fantastic.
“The quality of skills and cooking techniques shown throughout the heats made it an extremely tough decision but we are excited to see what the finals will bring.”
The winning team will win a Robot Cook Professional Heating Food Processor from Robot Coupe, £500 each, a £1,000 voucher for Russum’s catering equipment for their college, the competition trophy, a seafood competition medal and prize certificates.
All winning recipes will also feature on the Seafood Week 2018 website.
Seafish is the main sponsor of the event with Young’s Seafood supplying the fish, Koppert Cress donating the prize study trip and Oak Ridge Hotel Group providing accommodation for competitors.
The UK Young Seafood Chef of the Year Competition was founded in 1996 by tutors and industry specialists of the Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education’s hospitality department.
The competition final takes place on June 15, where Callum and Dean will compete against eight other teams to win their share of the prizes.