Roux Scholarship 2011 regional finalists announced

21-Feb-2011 - Last updated on 21-Feb-2011 at 13:05 GMT

2010 Roux Scholar Kenneth Culhane

Eighteen finalists for this year’s Roux Scholarship have been announced and are now due to compete in regional heats in March, followed by the national final in April.

Finalists to compete in the heat at Birmingham College of Food on 10 March, who will be judged by are Alain Roux, James Martin, and 1997 Roux Scholar Steve Love, are:

Mark Birchall, LEnclume, Cartmel, Cumbria
Richard Edwards, Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa, Wiltshire
Viresh Singh, The Connaught Hotel, London
Carl Chappell, The Montagu Arms Hotel, Beaulieu, Hampshire
Frederic Aumeunier, Devonshire Arms Hotel & Spa, Skipton, N Yorks
Richard Cullen, The Spotgate Inn, Staffordshire

Finalists taking part on the same day at Thames Valley University in London, who will be judged by be Michel Roux Jnr, Gary Rhodes, OBE, Brian Turner, CBE, David Nicholls and Andrew Fairlie are:

Andrew Wong, Bumbles Restaurant, London
Thomas Brockbank, Self employed working with Compass Group
Pramod Ghadge, Restaurant Associates, London
David White, Restaurant Associates, Barclays Wealth, London
Nick Whatmough, Restaurant Associates, Barclays Wealth, London
Matthew Whitfield, The Montagu Arms, Beaulieu, Hampshire
William Best, Wiltons Restaurant, London
Neven Vanderzee, Galvin At Windows, London
Matthew MacDonald, Vinoteca, London
Oliver Farrar, Haymarket Hotel, London
Quinton Bennett, Haymarket Hotel, London
Mark Berdin, UMU, London

Monkfish

Entrants this year had to submit a recipe to serve four people using: 1 monkfish tail of between 1.2 – 1.4k weight, served either as a whole or in portions, accompanied by a rice dish and a green vegetable of choice.

“We had a very high standard of entries, with a lot of Asian influenced recipes this year. Monkfish lends itself well to these flavours and I’m really looking forward to tasting the dishes,” said Michel Roux Jnr.

Contestants will have 2.5 hours to prepare their monkfish dish as well as a dessert from a list of mystery ingredients. The judges will be looking for recipes and methods that demonstrate the best balance of creativity, taste style and practicality in the finished dish.

Six winners across the two heats will go through to the National Final, which takes place on 18 April at Westminster Kingsway College, London. The 2011 Roux Scholarship winner will be announced at the Awards Ceremony at The Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park London the same evening.

The winner will then have the opportunity to do a three-month stage at a 3 Michelin starred restaurant anywhere in the world.