Liam Smith, whose career has seen him work in five star and Michelin starred restaurants, is competing in the Roux Scholarship, where chefs battle it out to see who can create the best dishes from the same ingredients, judged by famous top chefs.
Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, the competition was founded in 1984 by Michel Roux OBE and his brother Albert to enable a new generation of chefs from Britain to train in the greatest restaurants in the world.
Liam, 28, lived his early years on Old Lord’s Crescent in Horwich, before moving to Northumberland as a child.
His culinary delights have taken him to the national finals.
Recipes have included short loin of free-range gilt pork from the shoulder end, two fresh pork kidneys, with composed garnishes/accompaniments, one including sweet potatoes and the other can be a garnish/accompaniment of the contestant’s choice.
And the mystery box dessert challenge included a choice of 20 ingredients including blueberries, chestnut flour and The Macallan whiskey.
Liam said: “(The competition) is something you hear about when you are coming up in the cheffing world, quite a lot of people I look up to and follow have won it in the past.
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“It just was a goal I set for myself, I wanted to do it and compete, wanted to test myself and see where I was at.
“You are competing against people working at a high level, you’ve got to back yourself, but it has been a nice surprise getting through.
“I never intended to start out as a career. I had a job while at sixth form working in a small pub kitchen and over time realized that going to uni wasn’t for me, I really enjoyed the kitchen and doing that so pushed on and wanted to do more fine dining stuff.”
For the “quite interesting” mystery box dessert challenge, Liam made crepes with chestnut flour, caramelised bananas, agave syrup and whipped whiskey caramel.
Liam went on to work in a five star hotel near Perth in Scotland, the Gleneagles, and then one of Michelin Star chef Tommy Banks’ Abbey Inn restaurant in Yorkshire.
He added: “Then Northumberland made sense as the next place to go, I got an offer from Pine, which has a Michelin Star, Green Star. It has been a lot of fun, I have learned a lot and it’s been a bit of a journey.
“My father still lives in Bolton, as does my sister, and I come down quite regularly.”
Judges in the competition were Michel Roux Jr, Angela Hartnett OBE, Brian Turner CBE and James Martin.
Chairman Michel Roux Jr said: “The successful chefs sent in a really great set of recipes that all showcase some amazing skill and presentation in their dishes. It’s going to be another blockbuster of a year as we celebrate our 40th anniversary.”
