With the whisks whirring and the sauces simmering, the county’s finest chefs have been fighting over their frying pans to determine who will be named ‘Booker Chef of the Year’ and ‘Curry Chef of the Year’ in probably the world’s most prestigious culinary competition – the Carlsberg UK Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards.

The Awards, devised by Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership (NEP), are now in their third year and are again aimed at celebrating all that is great about local produce and drink, to recognise excellence within the county’s dining venues and to reward those who work so hard within the culinary sector.

The first cook-off, and the bid to be named ‘Booker Chef of the Year’, took place in the impressive kitchens of the Silverstone circuit, and the quartet competing over the stoves were (in alphabetical order):

Hao Dang of Dang’s Vietnamese Restaurant, Northampton
Lee Gaskins of The Terrace Restaurant at Highgate House, Creaton
Scott Grimsley of The Olde Red Lion, Kislingbury
Will Mountain of The Saracen’s Head, Little Brington

In true ‘Ready Steady Cook’ style, each chef was presented with a basket of produce provided by category sponsor Booker, as well as the two key Northamptonshire ingredients of Harpole breast of lamb and strawberries from Newton, from which they had to create two mouthwatering courses.

Among the dishes they served were grilled asparagus with a tomato and coriander concasse, a crispy boiled egg and basil and raspberry vinaigrette, braised lamb ‘two-ways’ with a gateau of ratatouille and a basil and mint dressing and also a dessert of crème brûlée with berries, a mini summer pudding and a mini white wine jelly.

The judges charged with the delicious task of sampling the dishes were BBC Radio Northampton’s Laura Cook, Mike Coppock from Northampton College, Booker’s Regional Director Stuart Hyslop, Steven Saunders who is a Fellow Master Chef of Great Britain and Grant Hawthorne, Master Chef of Great Britain. Said Grant “It’s great to see the regionality of British cooking becoming more prominent on both the chef and wider public’s radar and a competition like this can only serve to enhance the reasons for visiting Northamptonshire. I think it’s a super way to support the county and celebrate not just its wonderful produce, but the people who cook it.”

For Stuart, the successful event was merely confirmation of his company’s decision to support the Awards. “As a local supplier to many chefs throughout Northamptonshire, Booker understands how important it is to reward those individuals who continue to create outstanding food. So to observe the finalists conjuring up some amazing dishes using our produce makes us very proud to be involved!”

Meanwhile the second cook-off was for the title of ‘Curry Chef of the Year’ with the four chefs, each from Northampton, being (in alphabetical order):

Ram Enus of MAHA-RAJ-A
Bodrul Islam of Saffron
Durga Sapkota of Mem Saab Ltd
Baldev Singh of Mem Saab Ltd

This spicy battle was held in the equally impressive training kitchens of the category partners, Northampton College and among the judges were their Catering Manager Richard Curtis, Ian James of sponsor British Pepper and Spice, Head of Catering at Bedford College Raj Mandal, Paul Calcott of media partners WOW Magazine, local food writer and broadcaster Vanessa Kimbell and former Northamptonshire and England cricketer Devon Malcolm.

The chefs produced a remarkable variety of dishes from chicken tikka mushakali to palak paneer, monkfish bhuna to lamb mozzarella kebab which meant that for Devon, choosing his winner was a quite a challenge! “I’ve tasted some of the world’s finest curries while on my international cricket duties so to sample such a high quality of food on my doorstep was fantastic. The standard of all four chefs was amazing and we should be really proud of the talent this county has to offer.”

Rachel Mallows from The Mallows Company is the competition’s co-ordinator. “We are delighted to continue our partnership with Northampton College and so proud to bring in the magnificent venue that is the Silverstone circuit and the UK’s number one cash and carry, Booker, this year. It’s testament to the increasing value of this competition and is further regional and national endorsement of what we’re trying to achieve locally.”

The chefs in both categories now have until 1st September to discover their fate when the winners and runners-up in all ten categories will be announced at the Awards Dinner at Holdenby House. Meanwhile, to see them in action at the cook-offs, visit the Awards’ website – www.letyourselfgrow.com/foodanddrinkawards

Finally, there’s your chance to help to decide who wins the ‘Community Pub of the Year’, ‘Restaurant of the Year’ and the ‘Pub or Bar Restaurant of the Year’ titles again by visiting the Awards’ website – www.letyourselfgrow.com/foodanddrinkawards and voting for your favourite in each category or by completing voting form which is available at each of the venues. You have until 8th August to register your vote.