Exploring the 170-acre Jungle Gardens, touring the outskirts of the island by boat and a fantastic opportunity to visit New Orleans, where America’s Mardi Gras takes place, are just some of the highlights for the student chef who takes the title.
The lucky winner will get to know everything there is to know about the hot pepper sauce through guided factory tours that highlight the history of the sauce, as well as the processes used to make it – from the mashing of hand-picked red peppers, mixing of vinegar and the island’s Avery salt, and ageing the sauce in white oak barrels, to the bottling and packaging.
The competition, held in association with the Craft Guild of Chefs, is open to student chefs of all ages working in the UK, who have to create their own ‘Street Food’ inspired dish incorporating any of the different flavour variants from the Tabasco sauce range. The dishes must be practical to prepare in a foodservice kitchen and incorporate easily sourced ingredients.
Ten finalists will be short-listed from the paper entries and invited to prepare, cook and present their dishes in 90 minutes at the University of West London on November 5. Closing date for entries is October 12.
• Entries should be sent to the Craft Guild of Chefs or emailed to Craftguild@btconnect.com