GREAT YORKSHIRE COOKERY COMPETITION LAUNCHED

The  search  is on for three of the region’s most  inventive
and  inspiring  chefs  as  the prestigious  Great  Yorkshire
Cookery Competition for 2009 is launched.

Celebrity  chef  Raymond Blanc has lent his support  to  the
annual  culinary contest, which aims to find  and  encourage
chefs  with a passion for local ingredients and a flair  for
creating delicious dishes.

Now  in  its  fifth  successful year and  organised  by  the
Yorkshire  Agricultural  Society,  the  contest  has   three
categories  and aims to find the best professional,  amateur
and junior chefs. The Society is best known as the organiser
of  the  annual Great Yorkshire Show, and its sister  event,
Countryside  Live and year round the Society highlights  the
important role farmers play in producing our food.

Finalists  in all three categories will be invited  to  take
part  in  cook-offs, under the critical gaze of  a  team  of
experienced  judges, with the winners receiving  a  host  of
exciting prizes.

Top  prize  for the best amateur chef will be the chance  to
spend  a  day  cooking at Michelin-starred Leeds  restaurant
Brasserie  Blanc  alongside one of Raymond  Blanc’s  trained
chefs. The Society will also provide the winner with  a  set
of chef’s knives.

Other  prizes  include  a  day at  the  prestigious  Betty’s
Cookery  School in Harrogate for the junior  winner,  and  a
cash  prize  and  commemorative  certificate  for  the  best
professional chef.

For  the  2007  Great Yorkshire Cookery Competition  amateur
winner,  Tim Cottrill, the past 12 months have been  amongst
the most exciting of his life.

After  winning  the contest the 19-year-old,  who  lives  in
Darley,  Harrogate,  has  appeared  across  the  region   at
prestigious  cookery events, including the  Great  Yorkshire
Show,  and has just landed his dream job as commis  chef  at
Rudding Park Hotel’s Clocktower Restaurant.

He said: “The Great Yorkshire Cookery Competition has opened
so  many  doors  for me - it has been a great  start  to  my
career. I’ve always wanted to become a chef and winning  the
contest gave me the motivation I needed. It has led  to  the
wonderful experience of cooking in a professional kitchen.”

“Before the competition, I enjoyed cooking as a hobby -  now
it  is my job and I am loving every minute of it,” said Tim,
who  is  a  former  pupil of St Aidan’s C  of  E  School  in
Harrogate and began work at Rudding Park in the summer.

Last year’s junior winner, Helen Rosillo, has also secured a
job  at the hotel where the 17-year-old has a part-time  job
as a pastry chef.

Helen  is  studying  for her A’ Levels at Harrogate  Grammar
School  and  said:  “Winning  the  Great  Yorkshire  Cookery
Competition  has  been  brilliant.  I  have  loved  cooking,
especially baking, ever since I was about four or five years
old.

“It’s  great  fun  working at Rudding  Park,  and  wonderful
experience for me. I have been thrown in at the deep  end  -
and  it  really  is fantastic,” said Helen, who  is  helping
prepare desserts and pastries for the hotel’s conference and
banqueting   business   and  the  award-winning   Clocktower
Restaurant.

Executive  Chef  at  Rudding  Park,  Stephanie  Moon,  said:
“Employing  both  of  these winners  has  been  a  fantastic
opportunity for us to get some fresh new talent and for them
to get some experience of professional kitchens.

“It  has  worked  well  for both  them  and  us.  The  Great
Yorkshire  Cookery Competition encourages chefs of  tomorrow
and the fact that people can get professional jobs out of it
is  great.  Winning the competition set Tim and Helen  apart
from the crowd,” she said.

Supporting  the competition, Raymond Blanc said:  “Brasserie
Blanc  is  delighted  to be supporting the  Great  Yorkshire
Cookery Competition this year.   Cooking and being the  very
best at what you do is my greatest passion and passing on my
knowledge to young chefs is very rewarding for me.   Michael
House our Chef at Brasserie Blanc Leeds, whom I have trained
and  worked  with for many years, will be in the kitchen  to
provide  the  lucky  winner with a  wonderful  afternoon  of
cooking.    The winner will see what life is really like  in
a  professional kitchen, picking up all sorts  of  tips  and
tricks along the way.”

Speaking   about  the  competition,  Nigel  Pulling,   Chief
Executive of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society said: “As an
organisation  we  are committed to supporting  the  region’s
farmers and promoting the use of the food they produce is  a
key  element.  Today, people are increasingly aware  of  the
importance  of eating healthily and the starting  point  for
that  is  using  good seasonal ingredients to  create  tasty
meals.  This  competition takes using regional and  seasonal
ingredients  to  the  next  level by  developing  them  into
imaginative  dishes  and re-enforces  the  vital  role  that
farmers play.”

Entry  to the competition is free and open to all who either
live  or  work  in  Yorkshire.  See  the  Society’s  website
www.greatyorkshirecookerycompetition.co.uk  for  competition
details  or call 01423 546218 for an application  form.  The
deadline for entries is
1  December  2008  with the winners of  the  three  sections
announced early next year.