Roux Scholarship 2012 finalists announced

They are: Edward Attwell, Love's Restaurant, Birmingham Quinton Bennett, The Arch, London Arbinder Dugal, Le Pont de la Tour, London Pramod Ghadge, Catlin Underwriting Agencies, Harbour & Jones, London Robert Hutchins, Rudding Park Hotel, Harrogate Adam Smith, The Ritz, London While it's a first for Attwell, Hutchins and Smith, veterans include Ghadge and Bennett, who were in last year's final, and Dugal making it through to the final on his fourth attempt. Ghadge said that after making it to the final last year he felt a bit of pressure to do it again. "This is a great opportunity; everyone knows about the Roux Scholarship and I would love to win." Bennett added that it was the last chance to get through before he exceeds the age limit. "It was tough and harder than last year and I wasn't sure if I'd done enough. I'm so pleased to get through as it was my last chance. I just hope I can go on and do well in the final." This year's challenge was to create a recipe to serve four people using two 400g spring chickens and 300g veal heart sweetbreads, accompanied by a sauce and two garnishes, one of which had to be cauliflower and the other using a green vegetable of choice. Contestants had two and a half hours to cook their dish as originally submitted, along with a dessert from a list of mystery ingredients given to them on the day. In London the judges were Michel Roux Jnr, Andrew Fairlie, David Nicholls, James Martin and 1997 Roux scholar Steve Love, and in Birmingham they were Brian Turner and 1999 Roux scholar Sat Bains. Michel Roux Jnr said: "This year's mystery box was a challenge; we gave them lots of ingredients. Even we, as judges, all came up with different things and had different takes on what we would do. Some of the competitors tried to be too complex and came up with three things on the plate, which was a step too far and you could see they changed their minds as they went along. "Everyone did a great job with their main courses but it was the desserts that let some of them down. I am looking for organisation and simplicity; the food has got to look good and taste even better, and that's what defined the winners today." Cactus TV filmed the heats for a one off special documentary called The Roux Scholarship, which has been commissioned by the Good Food channel and is due to air later this year. The programme will document every stage of the competition from the paper judging at the three Michelin starred Waterside Inn and the regional heats, to the final and award ceremony. The final on April 2 will take place at Westminster Kingsway College in London, where the recipe details will be a surprise. Thirty minutes before the cook off the finalists will be given the recipe and ingredients for a main dish, classic or modern, and asked to prepare and present it to the judges. The 2012 Roux scholar will be announced at the award ceremony at The Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park, the same evening. The scholarship offers the winner a career changing opportunity with a three month stage at a three Michelin starred restaurant anywhere in the world.