Four young chefs from Christchurch restaurants have gone to head to head in the Christchurch Food & Wine Festival’s annual Professional Young Chef of the Year competition sponsored by Chef’s Mate.
The four – Ryan Carpenter from The Captains Club Hotel, Harry Fry from Splinters Restaurant, Jimmy Pang from The Nelson Tavern and Jordan Garland-Wood from The Crooked Beam Restaurant – had to show their culinary prowess at the event held at the Bournemouth & Poole College.
After completing a basic skills test they then had to prepare, cook and present their signature dishes during the cook-off.
The judges – David Boland from Bournemouth & Poole College, Colin Nash from The Three Tuns and Karl Wiggins from Gordleton Mill – had a difficult job deciding the winner, but eventually Jimmy Pang’s main course of Dorset lamb rack served with garlic watercress mash, fried oysters and a red wine blackberry jus and dessert of strawberry soufflé with clotted cream won him the title.
Martin Preston from sponsors Chef’s Mate said: “We were really impressed by the standard of cooking and seeing what they would do with our ingredients. We sponsor this competition because, with our prominence in quality food distribution, we feel it’s important to give something back and encourage the future lifeblood of the industry.”
Jimmy was presented with a set of chef’s knives by Martin Preston.
