Winners of Coeliac UK's Gluten-free Chef of the Year crowned

18th November 2010, 12:08pm

The winners of Coeliac UK's Gluten-free Chef of the Year competition have been revealed following a cook off last week.

There were two categories; Gluten-free Chef of the Year, for professional chefs and Up and Coming Gluten-free Chef of the Year, for catering students and under 23s.

Michael McCamley from Northern Ireland was chosen as the Gluten-free Chef of the Year and, for the second year in a row, student Shanice Parris as the Up and Coming Gluten-free Chef of the Year.

McCamley, head chef at Venue Catering in Newry, Northern Ireland, wins a one week placement at Gleneagles with twice Michelin star chef, Andrew Fairlie and will also spend the day working with Sodexo executive development chefs to produce a signature dish suitable for people with coeliac disease.

And Parris, who is in her second year studying catering at Westminster Kingsway College, wins a one week placement at Pennyhill Park working under Michelin star chef Michael Wignall.

Entrants were required to design and submit a three course gluten-free menu and the three finalists from each category then had to cook their menu live for celebrity chef and food ambassador of Coeliac UK, Phil Vickery, and a panel of experts.

Runners up in the competition were Jason Church, head chef at Toyota for the Gluten-free Chef of the Year and Charlotte Marks who is a third year catering student at Northampton College in the Up and Coming Gluten-free Chef of the Year category.

Vickery said: "I was really impressed by the quality and attention to detail displayed in the entries for this competition and congratulations to all the winners!  It is fantastic to see chefs with such a passion and enthusiasm to embrace the gluten-free diet and the needs of those diagnosed with coeliac disease.

"All the finalists should be proud that they are leading the way in the world of gluten-free cooking and helping to raise awareness in the catering industry of the need for gluten-free menu options, I hope that they will all continue developing further gluten-free dishes in their repertoire."

The panel of judges included Martin Bates, Craft Guild of Chefs; Ray Lorimer, Unilever Foodsolutions UK & Ireland; David Mulcahy, Sodexo; Christopher Basten, County Hall Marriot and Daniel Ayton, Crowne Plaza, London Saint James & Taj 51 Buckingham Gate.

This year's competition was run in association with the Institute of Hospitality, the Craft Guild of Chefs and supported by Unilever Foodsolutions UK & Ireland who made available their Leatherhead based culinary business development kitchens for the live cook off.

The competition was launched earlier this year to raise awareness and highlight the need for increased provision of gluten-free menu options for the 1 in 100 people in the UK with coeliac disease.

Related Articles:

• 02 Dec 2011 - Winner of Coeliac UK’s Gluten-free Chef of the Year competition 2011 crowned
• 06 Jul 2010 - Celebrity chef Phil Vickery campaigns for chefs to enter the 2010 Gluten Free Chef of the Year Competition
• 15 Jun 2010 - Coeliac UK calls for gluten free recipes

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