Michael Cruickshank (29) has made it through to the semi-finals of the Roux Scholarship for the fourth time since 2016, and this year he hopes to go all the way.
After being selected for his written recipe – submitted anonymously to the judges – Mr Cruickshank will be one of 18 chefs competing at the regional cook-offs in the UK next month.
The semi-finalists will be asked to make the recipe they submitted with their application, which was based on hake, clams and leeks.
He said: ‘It’s always great to get through but when you’ve done it a few times it almost becomes an expectation. However, there is no guarantee, so you can’t take anything for granted.’
When asked what he had proposed in his dish, he said: ‘It was quite simple actually, some clam sauce, some roasted leek and pan-roasted hake – nothing too extravagant.’
The winner of the overall competition will be chosen from the six chefs competing in the national final at Westminster Kingsway College in London on 25 October, where Björn Frantzén – from three-star Michelin restaurant Frantzén in Stockholm – will lead the panel of judges.
The finalists will be given a classic recipe to cook, and will have 30 minutes to prepare their work plan and make notes. They will then start cooking at ten-minute intervals with roughly three hours to produce their dish.
Mr Cruickshank has been waiting for the semi-finals since the competition was postponed by the pandemic, and this time he has even more motivation – in the form of his 18-month-old son.
He said: ‘He doesn’t really know what is going on but it’s something I can tell him about when he’s older. It’s definitely something that gives you an extra reason to want to do well.’
The winner of the Roux Scholarship will receive up to £12,000 and an invitation to cook and train under the supervision of a leading chef at a prestigious three-star Michelin restaurant – anywhere in the world – for up to three months.
Should Mr Cruickshank succeed at next month’s cook-off, it will also be the third time he has reached the final.
‘You do still get a little nervous but I have an expectation of what I’m getting into, so it’s just about going in there and putting your game face on,’ he said.
