Shop assistant wins Le Cordon Bleu Scholarship 2016
The Leeds-based chef – whose full time job until now has been in retail – beat 13 other finalists in the contest on 2 June.
His prize - worth over £35,000 - includes a place on the school’s Diplome de Patisserie, a three-month Diploma in Culinary Management, an internship at the three-Michelin-star restaurant Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road under head chef Clare Smyth, and central London accommodation from Urbanest.
The contest selected finalists from an array of competitors across the regions, with partnering chefs for each region comprising Will Holland for Wales and the Midlands, Simon Hulstone for the South West, Anna Hansen for London and the South East, Mark Greenaway for Scotland and Northern Ireland, and Frances Atkins for the North.
Murphy has a degree in art, but only began cooking when he took a one-day a week cake decorating class alongside his day job.
He said: “I don’t think of anything else other than cakes and cake decorating. I can’t wait to pursue my dream and gain all the skills I need in pâtisserie. There are so many things I want to learn. Being given the opportunity to train at Le Cordon Bleu is a privilege that only a few people can claim. I feel honoured.”
Graeme Bartholomew, Le Cordon Bleu Pâtisserie master chef and part of the scholarship judging panel, said: “[Murphy] showed dedication and was clearly inspired. His motivation and eagerness to learn new techniques and skills in management to develop his own business was what really made him stand out.”
Bartholomew added that the standard of entrants had been extremely high in 2016.
He said: "We had an extremely high calibre of candidates this year, which made our decision even harder. But as a teaching chef, it is extremely humbling to see the effort and commitment each individual gave.”
