Michel Roux welcomes 2009 Scholarship entries

Chefs are being invited to enter the 2009 Roux Scholarship for the chance to win £5k and support from the Roux family and other top chefs.

The scholarship is open to all UK chefs aged between 22 and 30 and is judged by a panel of chefs, including the Roux brothers and their sons, Heston Blumenthal, Gary Rhodes, Andrew Fairlie and Brian Turner.

One winner will not only become a Roux Scholar, which gives them support from a network of industry leaders, but will also be given the chance to attend a three-month stage at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Europe.

To enter, chefs must submit a lamb recipe and costings for four people, using two best ends of lamb (leaving bone in) accompanied by two garnishes, one of which must be potato, and the other using one green vegetable. The dish should also be accompanied by a light jus or a salsa.

Michel Roux senior said: “Our panel of judges is one of the things which sets our competition aside from some other contests.

“There is continuity as most of the panel have been involved with the competition for decades – the addition of a guest judge each year brings a fresh dimension to our judging and we have been honoured over the years by the calibre of all our judges.

“It is worth pointing out however, that for the first stage of the judging, the judges have no idea whose entry they are marking. Entries are numbered and it is only once the regional finalists have been selected, that their names are given to the judges.”

Five national finalists will each win £1k from the Savoy Educational Trust to be used to further their culinary skills and other prizes from the competition`s supporters.

For an entry form and more information visit www.rouxscholarship.co.uk​