The competition was started in 2023 to provide a stepping stone to BM’s other chef competitions, as well as wider industry national and international competitions. The entire competition took place on 26th September at St Luke’s Community Centre near Old Street in London.
BM chefs simply had to submit their name and place of work to enter, and all were invited to compete on the day, allowing everyone that enters the chance to gain competition experience.
The first stage of the competition saw the chefs undergo a skills test and a ‘mystery box’ filled with ingredients, from which they had ten minutes to design and 35 minutes to cook a dish.
The second stage involved the chefs cooking a pre-planned menu using either an aged pork chop, whole duck or Cornish plaice. They had the flexibility to produce multiple courses, or one course served ‘family style’, and had 90 minutes to prepare, cook and present their menus.
The judges looked at dish flavour and presentation, and how the chefs worked in the kitchen including cleanliness and organisation. Price cooked a roast bone-in pork chop with caramelised cauliflower purée, smashed Ratte potatoes with herb dressing, confit carrot with chicken crumb and pan sauce.
All competitors will be invited to take part in a skills course with BM consultant chef Adam Byatt at the Michelin-starred Upstairs at Trinity in London. They will also receive two culinary books to support their education and development and be invited to take part in supplier visits.
Daryll Young, BM head of chef development and innovation and competition judge, said: “We launched the Hungry Chef competition because we have quite a few team members across the business who have had a change of career later in life, or who are happy staying at a certain rank in the kitchen for various reasons.
“We didn’t want the amazing chefs that we have at this level to miss out and fall under the radar. It can also be very intimidating and overwhelming for chefs to put themselves forward for some of the more high-pressured competitions, so we wanted to provide our more junior chefs with a competitive environment that allows them to push themselves but isn’t as intense as Chef of the Year.
“The standard of everyone's food was brilliant and confirmation of why we wanted to run this competition. The reason Dan’s food stood out was that his dishes worked particularly well together, and he worked smart. But most of all, everything on the plate had real thought put into it and tasted amazing.”