Yesterday, in the prestigious and rather apt setting of The Grand Hotel Cookery School, nine young contestants changed into their chef whites to go head-to-head in their claim for the title of Delifresh’s ‘Young Chef Of The Year.’
Delifresh has been providing customers and chefs, including Michelin-starred organisations with the finest ingredients since 2002. Recognising the importance of future talent in the catering and hospitality industry, Marketing Director, Robert Ramadan and his team turned to organising a competition this year to shed light on the next generation of budding chefs. The competition, which started earlier this year, saw around 75 entries from young chefs across the north, all under the age of 23 years old. Following various regional heats across Liverpool, Leeds and Newcastle, the contestants were then whittled down to nine talented finalists. It was then, that they would come together to cook two creative and flavoursome dishes of their choice, before facing the verdict of a panel of five nationally renowned, professional chefs: Pierre Koffmann, Terry Laybourne, Stephanie Moon, Aidan Byrne and Andrew Pern.
As well as the title of Delifresh’s ‘Young Chef Of The Year,’ the chosen winner would also receive the opportunity to embark on a luxury three-day trip to France, plus spend a week working alongside culinary expert, Gareth Ward, chef patron at the two-Michelin starred Ynyshir Restaurant and Rooms in Wales.
Speaking before the result reveal, The Grand Hotel’s very own finalist, Harry Blade, commented on what it would mean to win the competition: “It would mean a great deal, obviously with the hard work that’s been put in. I’ve had the last three days off but I’ve been in every day and was up at 1am last night with Ahmed cooking Ducks at the hotel.” Harry continued: “It would mean a lot to my family as well, and that would mean a lot to me, to make them proud.”
And proud he soon made them, alongside beaming Head Chef, Ahmed Abdalla, as the talented Harry wowed the panel of judges with his two dishes and was later announced the champion of the Delifresh competition. The first of Harry’s winning dishes consisted of a delectable roasted duck breast with a duck confit foie gras bonbon, celeriac purée, red cabbage and apple gel, drizzled in a rich, duck jus. The second dish featured a mouth-watering chocolate mousse with raspberry sorbet, and chocolate tuile finished with a chocolate and Szechuan crumb, gold leaf and raspberries.
Although there could be only one winner, it has to be said that every contestant in the final thoroughly deserved their place and the array of dishes were enjoyed by many of the guests as well as judges.
Shedding light on his advice towards the talented finalists and other budding young chefs for their future careers in the industry, world-renowned Chef, Pierre Koffmann said: “I say you have to carry on working hard you know, most importantly you have to cook the food you want to eat. You don’t try to do something to copy a famous chef. If you don’t like it, don’t do it. You’ve got to cook with your heart.”
With big plans for the 2023 competition already underway, Delifresh is encouraging young, aspiring chefs to sign themselves up for the next heat. For the latest updates, please visit https://www.delifreshltd.co.uk/.
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