For the fourth consecutive year, the competition is being run in association with the Institute of Hospitality and the Craft Guild of Chefs, and was officially launched at the Craft Guild’s recent Wessex Salon Culinaire. Celebrity chef and Coeliac UK food ambassador Phil Vickery will be heading the judging panel.
The competition is for professional cooks and catering college students who will have to design a three-course gluten-free menu for two people. Menus must include at least two courses that have a gluten-free element, such as pasta, pastry, sponge, cake, bread, batter, etc, which must be made from scratch on the day of the live cook off by the three finalists in each group.
This final will take place in the development kitchen at the Unilever Food Solutions Culinary Business Development Centre in Leatherhead, Surrey, on Tuesday, November 19 2013.
Vickery has worked for many years with Coeliac UK, the national charity for sufferers of coeliac disease – an autoimmune disease caused by intolerance to gluten, and has also written three gluten-free cookbooks.
“Last year we raised the bar for entrants to take on the challenge of incorporating at least two courses which include a gluten-free element to prove just how delicious gluten-free can be,” said Vickery. “The results were excellent and we hope for even better this year.
“More people are being diagnosed with coeliac disease and, in today’s difficult times, it’s a market the industry can’t afford to ignore and I urge chefs of all experience to enter this excellent competition.”
The competition consists of two categories: Gluten-Free Chef of the Year for those who cook for a living and are over 23; and the Up and Coming Gluten-Free Chef of the Year for those who are training and under 23. Entrants will be shortlisted and three finalists from each category will go head to head in a live cook off to recreate their menu in 90 minutes.
The prize for the Gluten-Free Chef of the Year winner is a week long stage at the two Michelin starred Gleneagles working with executive chef Andrew Fairlie, plus accommodation. For the Up and Coming Gluten-Free Chef of the Year, the prize is a week long stage at Michelin-starred The Pass at South Lodge with chef Matt Gillan, plus accommodation.
Additional prizes provided by Sodexo and 3663 include gift vouchers and knives, and all finalists will receive a year’s free membership to the Craft Guild of Chefs.
Closing date for entries is 5pm on November 4 2013. For details on how to enter the competition, visit www.coeliac.org.uk/gfchefoftheyear