He beat off 20 other contestants with a spicy street food dish accompanied by Tabasco Original sauce that he enhanced with sugar, coriander and garlic for a sweet as well as hot flavour.
The dish scored highly with the judges – 40 points more than anyone else, and was praised for the innovative use of Tabasco sauce and its grab-and-go potential.
Price said he researched Louisiana food and experimented with the Tabasco sauce to come up with both sweetness and heat in the dish.
His reward is a fabulous trip to the home of Tabasco – Avery Island in Lafayette, Louisiana – to experience the region’s cuisine and culture, accompanied by his chef lecturer.
Runners up were student chefs Tanjinder Singh Sehde and Ricky Mantonti, both from the University of West London, who each received a bumper jar of Tabasco sauce.
Prizes for all the finalists included Tabasco products – some of them unavailable in this country, a year’s free membership to the Craft Guild of Chefs and a copy of the Guild’s Special Awards commemorative book.
Now in its second year, the competition organised by Tabasco and held in association with the Craft Guild of Chefs, saw a range of innovative dishes being created, which Craft Guild vice president Steve Munkley said demonstrated some fantastic skills and some special dishes.
The judging team included: Mark Hill, executive chef at the Houses of Parliament; Nick Sinclair, executive chef at the Brookland Hotel in Surrey; Ben Champkin, the 2013 Craft Guild of Chefs Young National Chef of the Year and chef de partie at The Elephant Restaurant in Torquay; Gary Evans, corporate chef Tabasco – Europe; and development chefs Craig Miles and Chris Crosby from AB World Foods.