Last call for Brakes Student Team Challenge

The competition, in association with the Craft Guild of Chefs, will see finalists use local and regional ingredients to develop a three course, four course cover menu to celebrate British food. Targeted at student chefs at NVQ Levels 2 and 3, each team will consist of three members and will be given 1 hour 45 minutes to prepare their dishes. From the paper entries, short-listed entrants will be invited to attend one of five regional heats (Scotland, Wales, Northern, Central and Southern) where they will compete in a live cook off against nine other teams. They will be judged on their regional menu, taste, presentation, teamwork, seasoning, culinary skills, working methods and overall balance. The five winning teams from the heats will then be invited to take part in the live final at ScotHot in Glasgow on 4th March 2009. Members of the winning team will each receive a global knife set and a five day work experience placement with Christopher Basten, head chef at County Hall and competition manager of the Craft Guild of Chefs. Runner's up will each win £150 of Brakes Catering Equipment. In addition to the £150 prize, Brakes will also professionally photograph each of the team's menus (which can be used in their portfolios) as well as publish them in subsequent editions of their seasonal magazine which has a circulation in excess of 35,000 copies. Chefs can submit their entries by logging onto http://www.brake.co.uk/