Chef Apprentice wins Culinary Competition with her Head Chef in Shoreditch, London

In total, 12 Companies and 12 teams (comprising two chefs per team) had to deliver a main course and dessert to a very tight timeframe of 45 minutes. Megan, 18, studying the second year of her course on the Specialised Chefs programme, said of her and Chris’s win: “It was incredible, it was a really proud moment and a memory I am going to carry forever - winning a competition with my Exec Chef.”

For the competition, the dessert was allowed to be made off-site and Megan and Chris made an apple cider savarin with a roasted vanilla crème fraiche cream, a caramelised sake plums apple compot with masse seeds rooftop shiso, timur pepper and sansho sherbert. 

The second dish, was made of four savoury plates with a mystery basket-style dish and was only revealed on thenight of the competition. The four plates had to include a protein provided by Gressingham, and the use of seasonal vegetables, plus larder ingredients that were also revealed on the day. Chefs were given 10 minutes to review the ingredients before starting. 

Judging took place throughout the competition and covered several factors, not just the food on the plate. Winners were announced on the night. Megan said: “We had just 45 minutes to do all of it, the dessert you could make before, the rest of the time was for the main course – and you have to make it up on the spot, and plate up the dessert at the end.” 

Chris let Megan take the lead to push her abilities. Megan continued: “We were literally running around because of the timeframe.”

For the main dish, Chris and Megan were presented with guinea fowl – they decided to roast the guinea fowl on the crown. Megan said: “You make it up directly as you go. We paneéd the legs in a seasoned flour and panko bread crumbs before deep frying. This added a lovely texture to the dish. They were also marinated in crème fraiche. The bones we used to make a broth with, and a beetroot puree–broth on the side with coriander oil, we did some pickled apple, picked raw beetroot and cavolo nero.”

Megan said of her win: “I was confident we’d have a good chance and it was really nice to see how proud Chris was. We won a bottle of champagne, it was absolutely massive, a goodie bag and a glass trophy with a certificate in a frame, a £250 voucher for any restaurant in London.”

When asked where she’d be spending her voucher, she added: “There are a few Michelin places, potentially Restaurant 22 in Cambridge and some other places in London, The Dorchester Grill. I’m kind of saving it for a special occasion.”

Images: Andrew Aston