The competition is for professional cooks and catering college students to design a three course gluten-free meal for two people, with a live cook-off for three finalists in each group, which will take place at the Unilever Food Solutions Culinary Business Development Centre in Leatherhead.
Entrants are being asked to showcase their skills by including gluten-free substitutes such as bread, pasta or batter cooked from scratch at the live final.
For the third year, the competition is being run in association with the Institute of Hospitality and the Craft Guild of Chefs.
The competition is comprised of two categories; ‘Gluten-free Chef of the Year’, for professional chefs over the age of 23 and the ‘Up and Coming Gluten-free Chef of the Year’, for catering students and trainee chefs under the age of 23. After an extensive first round of blind judging the following have been named as the three finalists from each category:
Gluten-free Chef of the Year
• Jose Manuel De Freitas, from Jersey the Second Chef at the Silver Springs Care Home
• Viktorija Bernataviciute, from Northampton, Sous Chef at the Wig and Pen in Northampton
• Tom Thexton, from London and the Head Chef at The Wild Thexton
Up and Coming Gluten-free Chef of the Year
• James Barnard from Barton upon Humber who is studying Level 3 NVQ professional cookery at Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education
• Beathan James from Corby, Northamptonshire studying VRQ Level 2 at Northampton College
• Christian Dean Young from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire studying professional chef level 2 at Northampton College
The judges said: “We were once again very impressed with the quality and number of entries this year. After much deliberating, the six we have shortlisted for the cook off demonstrated both creativity and a clear understanding of what people with coeliac disease would like to see on a menu when eating out. We are looking forward to seeing these finalists showcasing their gluten-free cooking skills at the live cook off and tasting their creations to choose the winners for each category of the competition.”
Prizes
Gluten-free Chef of the Year
A week long stage at Gleneagles working under two Michelin-starred chef, Andrew Fairlie with accommodation included.
Up and Coming Gluten-free Chef of the Year
A week long stage at Michelin-starred The Pass at South Lodge with chef Matt Gillan, with accommodation included.
Additional prizes, kindly provided by Sodexo and 3663, include generous gift vouchers and knives, and all finalists will receive a year’s Membership to the Craft Guild of Chefs.