Let battle commence

From the Olympic Games to the finals of the European Football Championships, 2012 is gearing up to be a massive year for competitions. In the culinary world, it’s certainly no different, with another prestigious prize up for grabs.

The National Chef of the Year, which this year is celebrating its 40th anniversary, is a highly sought after title for all chefs across the UK. The battle will be to see who has the talent, flair, skill and passion and can rise to the top of their game to become The National Chef of the Year for 2012.

The competition has grown beyond belief, especially since switching to an annual format. The likes of Gordon Ramsay, Simon Hulstone and Hrishikesh Desai are all past winners. Frederick Forster was the star of the show in 2011 and became The National Chef of the Year at the third time of asking.

“To win The National Chef of the Year was beyond my wildest dreams and such an immense feeling, said Frederick, head chef at Nuovo Restaurant. “I was up against some tremendous talent, which makes this victory even more special. I love cooking and it's fantastic to have your skills recognised. I feel honoured.”

Celebrating the multicultural nature of the UK is the key aim of the competition and the revised format, which was introduced in 2010, is certainly helping to showcase that desire. This year the categories will be divided up as follows:

Asian/Oriental
Modern British/European
Rest of the World/Other

David Mulcahy, organiser of the competition and vice president of the Craft Guild of Chefs, said: “It’s a long road to the final. Entries need to be submitted by May 1st and if successful chefs will then have to get through the challenging semi-finals, before even getting into the final eight.

“The calibre of entries seems to get stronger and stronger every year, and I am looking forward to another excellent challenge in 2012.  In recent years we’ve introduced categories to reflect the ethnic diversity here in the UK and it certainly went a long way in reflecting the wealth of different culinary talent in this country.”