"It's a case of keeping your head" - Northumberland chef reaches final of national competition

A Northumberland chef has been named among the top young cooks in the UK and has reached the semi final stage of a highly respected nationwide competition.

Liam Smith, who is usually working at Restaurant Pine near Corbridge, is one of the six national finalists for the 2024 edition of the Roux Scholarship after a successful regional final in Birmingham.

In its 40th anniversary year, the scholarship is used as a way to train the top chefs from across the UK to become some of the world's best and the regional final stage took place on Thursday, March 7.

Smith is the only North East representative and will face off against chefs from far and wide including London and Torquay.

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The national final will take place on Monday, April 8 with the winner getting the option of two prizes. These are either the chance to spend two months with a three star michelin chef anywhere in the world or £12,000 worth of training opportunities tailored to the winner.

As part of the process to reach the regional final, Smith needed to use a selection of ingredients to create a written recipe which was judged by chefs such as Michel Roux Jnr, best known for MasterChef: The Professionals, Saturday Kitchen and Food and Drink, Angela Hartnett OBE (Great British Menu), Brian Turner CBE (Ready, Steady, Cook) and James Martin (James Martin’s Saturday Morning).

The regional final saw the chefs given a mystery box of 20 ingredients and asked to make a dessert.

Ahead of the final stage, Liam Smith said: “I guess it’s hard to prep for the final, but I’ll be doing lots of reading of classical cookbooks. And then on the day, I guess it’s a case of keeping your head.”

Each finalist recieved a certificate as well as a G-106 Kiritsuke Knife, Moka pot and coffee from L'Unico, chef stone and apron as well as a copy of Wellocks' cookbook.

The final will take place at the Alain Roux Culinary School at The Waterside Inn, Berkshire.

For the national final, the recipe details will be a complete surprise; 45 minutes before the start of the competition the finalists will be given the ingredients for a main dish, either classic or modern, and given up to three hours to prepare and present it to the judges.

The overall winner will be given the option of two prizes. These are either the chance to spend two months with a three star michelin chef anywhere in the world or £12,000 worth of training opportunities tailored to the winner.