Win a trip to New Zealand
If you've ever fancied a working trip to New Zealand, here's your chance. This year a new competition has hit the circuit with a main prize of a four-to-six week culinary and wine visit worth £2,500 to New Zealand up for grabs. It's the brainchild of New Zealand's own UK-based chef Peter Gordon (of the Providores, London) and the NZ-UK Link Foundation which promotes educational and vocational exchanges between the two countries.
The event is open to any NVQ Level 3 student studying in London or the South-east who has British citizenship or residency. All you have to do is to prepare a three-course menu using specified New Zealand produce and match the dishes with a list of Kiwi wines. For instance, the first course must included Kiwi mussels, the second loin of New Zealand lamb or venison.
After an initial paper judging round, six chefs will then progress through to a cook-off to be staged in London at the end of May. The panel of judges, naturally, will include Peter Gordon.
A parallel competition will run in New Zealand, and the winner will fly over to London on a mirror trip to the UK.
For more information and an application form, contact The NZ-UK Link Foundation, c/o New Zealand High Commission, New Zealand House, Haymarket, London SW1Y 4QT. E-mail linkuknz@dircon.co, or call 01732 460209.
Brakes Scottish Chef of the Year
Ten finalists have been announced for the Brakes Scottish Chef of the Year final to be held on Tuesday 18 March at this year's ScotHot exhibition.
Celebrating their places are Angela Tannahill (Moorfield House hotel), Joe Rainey (Anniesland College), Pamela Fowlis (Glenrothes College), Paul Bjormark (Moorfield House hotel), David Hunt (Sodexho), Garry Watson (Gordon's restaurant, Inverkeilor), David Edwards (Glenrothes College), Craig Millar (Seafood restaurant, St Monans), Yoram Odentz (Sodexho) and Robert Robertson (Rooftop restaurant, Aberdeen).
Twenty-four competitors were chosen for the heats in a preliminary round of paper judging. The regional heats then took place over the first three weeks of February at Fife's Glenrothes College and culinary colleges in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The three judges were 1999 winner Kevin MacGillivray, head chef at Ballathie House in Perth, and Tony Jackson and Joe Queen, president and vice-president, respectively, of the Federation of Chefs Scotland.