Are you the UK’s best Italian food chef?

3rd June 2011, 3:17pm

The Craft Guild of Chefs and top Italian chef Valentina Harris are helping cheese specialist Lactalis McLelland in its quest to find the UK’s most inspired creators of Italian food.

They will be asking chefs to demonstrate their passion for Italian cuisine by developing a mozzarella inspired recipe using Lactalis' leading brand of Galbani mozzarella.

The judging panel, consisting of leading Craft Guild members and Valentina Harris, will judge two categories – senior chef and student chef, and will be looking for recipes that deliver innovative and inspired dishes for hot or cold usage.

Craft Guild CEO Martin Bates commented: "We're delighted to be involved in the competition and hope that it will reignite the awareness and popularity of Italian cuisine and showcase the best Italian culinary talent the UK has to offer when it comes to preparing this ever popular style of food. We also hope to encourage the next generation of student chefs to develop their skills and knowledge of Italian cuisine with their own judging category."

In the senior category, two of the best recipe winners will get the chance to win a trip to Cucina Valentina, Harris's cookery school in Umbria, Italy, where they will be treated to an action packed four day course filled with wine tasting, black truffle hunting, local market trips and a cooking experience with Harris.

In the student chef category, which is open to those currently enrolled at a UK catering college, one winner will receive an exclusive one to one cookery lesson with Harris in her London kitchen, together with a cheque for £500. Five runners up will each receive a copy of her latest cookery book.

Commenting on the competition, Harris explained: "My philosophy is to source the best available ingredients and then do as little as possible to them to create food that is authentic, honest and appealing. In this competition, we are looking for UK chefs that fancy themselves as connoisseurs of authentic Italian food. By challenging them to have some fun experimenting in the kitchen with Galbani mozzarella, we are hoping to see entries which show fresh, innovative ways of using this Italian icon."

Lactalis' out of home marketing manager, Warren MacFarlane, added: "Many chefs already appreciate the benefits of using premium cheese brands such as Galbani, but we hope this competition will encourage even more chefs to experiment with our authentic mozzarella to inject some additional excitement into their Italian cuisine.

"As the number one cheese brand in both Italy and the UK, chefs can be assured that by using Galbani mozzarella, they are using a high quality product as served in Italy, which will be reflected in the quality of their completed dishes".

• The closing date for recipe entries is Thursday, June 30. For more information and details about how to enter, visit www.lactalisoutofhome.co.uk

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