Winner of National Young Chef Culinary Competition
(14th Mar 2013)
The winner of the inaugural Wing
Yip ‘Young Chef of the Year 2013’ was awarded on Friday at an awards ceremony
in Birmingham.
Joseph Vinten from Birmingham won the coveted title of Young Chef
of the Year for Oriental Cuisine, which celebrated culinary expertise of the
very best chefs across the Midlands.
New for this year the competition set out to find the
Midlands’ most promising young chef talent in Oriental cooking. It offered
young chefs, between the ages of 18-25, who were either training or employed in
the catering industry the chance to boost their culinary careers.
Joseph was chosen after a
challenging 90 minute ‘cook-off’ at University College Birmingham during the
day, which saw 11 finalists, across two heats, prepare an authentic two course
meal comprising of a starter and main course.
Judges on the day included celebrity TV chef Ching He
Huang, Michelin-starred Birmingham chef Glynn Purnell, and President of the
British Culinary Federation, Peter Griffiths, who put the finalists through
their paces and passed on expertise.
Chairman of judges and President of British Culinary Federation, Peter
Griffiths said: “This competition has shown great diversity and is different to
other competitions on the circuit. The calibre of the entries has been very
high, so selecting our winners was difficult. We have been very impressed by
the talent and skills of these budding professionals. This makes Joseph’s award even more impressive and he should be very
proud of his achievement.”
Joseph, 22, is a student at University College
Birmingham and impressed the judges with his dishes including Lobster Spring
Rolls and Duo of Asian Quail.
Michelin starred chef Glynn Purnell said: “It’s a
great to see a competition that embraces the multi-cultural food scene in
Britain today. The dishes have shown a great fusion of east meets west.
Oriental cuisine inspired my early career so I was delighted to be asked to
judge this competition and was thoroughly impressed with the level of skill
from all the finalists.”
As this year’s winner, Joseph has not only added
the coveted title to his CV but has also won a once in a lifetime culinary trip
to Hong Kong where he will have the opportunity to experience fine Asian
cuisine and the popular street food scene.
On finding out the news, Joseph said: “I can’t
believe the judges thought my food was good enough to win, and it was great to
meet Glynn – he is one of my biggest inspirations. I am so excited and cannot
wait to try out more Oriental cuisine when I visit Hong Kong later in the
year.”
Ruby Rainey from Keele University was also
awarded second prize winning £500 of Wing Yip vouchers and Valerio
Grimaldi-Plant from Stratford-upon-Avon College came third,
winning £250 of Wing Yip vouchers.
Mr Wing Yip, Chairman of Wing Yip, said: “The
increasing popularity of Pan Asian cuisine in the UK is extremely
exciting. We launched the competition first and foremost to celebrate
Oriental cookery with its delicious flavors and aromas, but also to identify
the region’s most talented young chefs to encourage them to carry the tradition
forward and preserve the legacy of this glorious cuisine.”
TV chef and Young Chef Judge Ching He Huang, added:
“Joseph thoroughly deserved the title but I was impressed by the standard of
all the finalist’s dishes. The talent in the final line up confirmed that the
there is a hot bed of culinary promise and the final proved to be a fierce
competition. Winning the title will open many doors for Joseph and offers a
helping hand at a stage in their career which can be tricky to navigate. I was
honored to be able to share my experience and offer advice to the region’s
finest young chefs.”
Wing Yip is the UK’s leading Oriental grocer, with stores in Birmingham,
Manchester, Cricklewood and Croydon, stocking over 4,500 pan-Asian products.
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