Roux Scholarship 2011 – six regional finalists announced

15th March 2011, 9:10am

The six regional finalists for this year's Roux Scholarship competition have been announced.

The finalists are:

Quinton Bennett, Haymarket Hotel, London
Mark Birchall, LʼEnclume, Cartmel, Cumbria
Richard Edwards, Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa, Wiltshire
Pramod Ghadge, Restaurant Associates, London
Neven Vanderzee, Galvin At Windows, London
Nick Whatmough, Restaurant Associates, Barclays Wealth, London

The two regional heats took place at on 10 March at Birmingham College of Food and Thames Valley University, Ealing.

Judges in Birmingham included Alain Roux, James Martin & Steve Love (Roux Scholar 1997), and judges in Ealing consisted of Michel Roux Jnr, Brian Turner, CBE, Gary Rhodes, OBE, & Andrew Fairlie.

The challenge was to create a recipe to serve four people using one monkfish tail of between 1.2-1.4k weight, served either as a whole or in portions, accompanied by a rice dish and a green vegetable of choice.

Competitors had 2½ hrs to cook their dish as originally submitted along with a dessert from a list of mystery ingredients given to them on the day.

Each competitor received the following gifts:
£100 Russams voucher courtesy of the Savoy Educational Trust
Mocca coffee pot plus coffee courtesy of L'Unico Caffé Musetti
A single anniversary knife courtesy of Global Knives
A visit to the Fairfax Meadow Factory in London where skilled butchers present a meat demonstration courtesy of Fairfax Meadow

Michel Roux Jnr commented: "It's been fantastic to see so many different culinary skills on show, the chefs have used a whole range of cooking techniques, together with some interesting flavor combinations. The mystery box threw some of them, chocolate and rhubarb are never going to work but we saw this as a test."

The national final will take place on 18 April at Westminster Kingsway College, London.

Related Articles:

• 09 Jan 2012 - Chefs urged to enter 2012 Roux Scholarship competition
• 20 Apr 2011 - Roux Scholarship 2011 crowned
• 31 Mar 2011 - Alain Roux teams up with Eurostar to design premier dishes
• 22 Feb 2011 - Regional finalists announced for Roux Scholarship 2011
• 19 Oct 2010 - The Roux Scholarship 2011 open for entries
• 07 Apr 2009 - Wiltshire chef wins Roux Scholarship
• 09 Mar 2009 - Final six chosen for Roux Scholarship 2009
• 16 Feb 2009 - Regional finalists for Roux Scholarship 2009
• 20 Oct 2008 - 2009 Roux Scholarship now open for entries
• 22 Apr 2008 - Compass Group chef wins Roux Scholarship
• 08 Feb 2008 - The Roux Scholarship regional finalists are out

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