The competition, held at the Knorr kitchen in Leatherhead and supported by Unilever Food Solutions, aims to inspire and showcase a generation of top chefs who dedicate their talent to delivering the best food and nutrition for patients in HCA UK’s hospitals.
FIlomena’s winning dish was a lamb tagine with couscous. Contestants were given 90 minutes to produce a main course of their choice costing less than £7.50.
Janene Madden, chief executive officer at The Portland Hospital, said: “We have incredible talent in our kitchens and it was wonderful to see the support from our Head Chefs, nurturing and developing talent within.
“Many of the chefs competing started their careers as kitchen porters before climbing the ranks within our kitchens, providing exceptional food for our patients every day.”
Jake Almazan from The Lister Hospital took second place for his dish of sea bass and salmon roulade with beetroot and peas.
Third Place went to Borja Rodriguez from The Portland Hospital, who cooked crispy fried sea bass with leek pomme puree, crispy veg.
The judges of the HCA Chef of the Year 2016 were: Sam Tadjadit, Head Chef at The Portland and the organiser of the HCA UK chef of the year; Lee Szukaski, Head Chef at London Bridge Hospital; Janene Madden, CEO The Portland Hospital; Manisha Shah, Director of Clinical Services HCA Healthcare UK, and Nicola Gillis, HR Director, HCA Healthcare UK.