Young Irish Chef of the Year 2012 Competition Launched

The search for Young Heroes of Irish Cooking through the Euro-toques Young Chef of the Year competition was launched today. The organisers are calling out to all young chefs in Ireland, aged 18-26, to enter the competition. Winning it could change their culinary careers!

Young Chefs from any type of catering establishment can enter the competition online HERE. Closing date for online entries is September 26th.

In association with Failte Ireland, the competition aims to search for Ireland’s Young Food Heroes that display talent, enthusiasm and passion for Irish food. This is the 22nd year of the competition which presents unique opportunities to ambitious Young Chefs to increase their knowledge, enhance their skills and further their career. It also gives them the chance to cook with and for top chefs and gain international experience.

All stages of the competition promote Euro-toques principles of local and seasonal sourcing. It's aim is to get young chefs thinking about “What Irish Cooking means today”.

Speaking at the launch Gearoid Lynch, President Euro-toques Ireland, said, “Our vision for this competition is to evoke the feeling of pride and thoughts of excellence when people think about Irish cooking and food. Irish culinary skills are developing at a fast rate and for this reason chefs need to be nurtured from a young age. Young Chef of the Year aims to do just that while promoting and supporting local produce at the same time.”

At each stage of the competition, candidates will be whittled down and the next task revealed. Then Five Finalists will be announced in early November and showcased at an exciting Pop-Up event in Dublin’s City Centre. The final of the Euro-toques Young Chef of the Year will take place on November 25th and the winner will be revealed at an exclusive mystery event. You can win tickets to both these events by logging onto www.youngchef.ie. 

Irish Chef Trevor Moran who is Sous Chef at the Noma  Restaurant    
Judges for the final will include Dublin-born Guest Chef Trevor Moran, Sous Chef at Restaurant Noma, Copenhagen that holds two Michelin stars and was voted best restaurant in the world by Restaurant Magazine for 3 years running. Commenting about his role in the competition Trevor said, “I am really excited to be involved in this competition and see young chefs using the incredible products we have available in Ireland, both wild and cultivated. We have the advantage of a huge choice of amazing seafood, flavourful meat, and fantastic wild plants in Ireland. We need to take pride in all this and showcase it in Irish cooking, that’s what this competition is all about." 

Kamil Dubanik who won the competition in 2011
Speaking at the launch, Kamil Dubanik, 2011 Young Chef of the Year and Senior Chef de Partie at Knockranny House said, “The competition was a great experience while giving me an opportunity to prove my skills. While having an unforgettable time during the competition I also learned huge lessons that will stand to me during my career. Taking part in the Euro-toques Young Chef of the Year was the biggest challenge in my life so far, but well worth it as I got to meet great people from this industry that share my passion for working with only the best food products.”

For more details see http://www.euro-toques.ie/youngchef/about.php

UPDATE - November 25th 2012

zack