Two young chefs from the College have steamed, sliced and diced their way through to the finals of the 2018 UK Young Seafood Chef of the Year competition, after winning their regional heat in Llandudno, North Wales on Friday 4 May.

Jamie Cracknell (21) and Sagar Massey (19) worked as a team to impress judges with their three-course seafood menu using sustainably sourced seafood.

Sponsored by Seafish, the public body that supports the £6bn UK seafood industry, the competition final is set to take place on 15 June at The Grimsby Institute, which organises the competition, where Jamie and Sagar will compete against eight other teams to win their share of the prizes.

Each team will again have to impress the judging panel of seafood professionals during the finale. The panel includes Ben Bartlett, Master Craft Guild of Chefs, Franck Pontais, Chef author, Nikki Hawkins of Seafish, George McIvor, Master Chefs of Great Britain and Galton Blackiston, owner of Michelin star restaurant, Morston Hall, in Norfolk.

Nikki Hawkins, Seafish said: “The level of talent displayed at the competition this year has been outstanding. The UK Young Seafood Chef of the Year competition is designed to encourage young chefs to think about cooking with sustainable seafood, and to see the innovative ways they used seafood in their dishes was fantastic.

“The quality of skills and cooking techniques shown throughout the heats made it an extremely tough decision but we are excited to see what the finals will bring.”

Paul Robinson, Curriculum Manager, Hospitality, The Grimsby Institute, said “We find the competition brings out the best in young chefs as it gives them a competitive platform where they can display their skills to their peers.

“I try and encourage students to enter competitions as much as possible. It’s a great way to put to the test what they’ve learned in college in an environment where pressure and time constraints are used to help them grow and develop as chefs. I wish all of the students the best of luck for the finals and want to congratulate them for making it this far in what is such an important competition in the seafood industry.”

The winning team will win a Robot Cook Professional Heating Food Processor from Robot Coupe, £500 each, a £1,000 voucher for Russum’s catering equipment for their College, the competition trophy, a seafood competition medal and prize certificates. All winning recipes will also feature on the Seafood Week 2018 website.

Seafish is the main sponsor of the event with Young’s Seafood supplying the fish, Koppert Cress donating the prize study trip and Oak Ridge Hotel Group providing accommodation for competitors.

The UK Young Seafood Chef of the Year Competition was founded in 1996 by tutors and industry specialists of the Grimsby Institute of Further & Higher Education’s Hospitality Department.