Whitby fish pie nets prize

Related tags Brewers fayre Chef Recipe Brewers

in Brewers Fayre contest by Jo de Mille The national finals of Brewers Fayre's 'Design a Dish' competition took place at Whitbread Court in...

in Brewers Fayre contest

by Jo de Mille

The national finals of Brewers Fayre's 'Design a Dish' competition took place at Whitbread Court in Dunstable this week.

This was the culmination of a six-month appeal for people across the UK to design a dish that best represented their region, using local ingredients, in the hope that it would become the next British classic. The overall winner's recipe will appear on Brewers Fayre menus across the country in 2006.

The seven Design a Dish finalists, chosen from hundreds of entrants to represent the regions of Wales, Scotland, the north-east, north-west, south-east, south-west and the Midlands, battled it out to produce their recipes, which ranged from Dorest Blue Vinny cheese and roasted red onion tart, to Welsh shepherd's pie and haggis-stuffed chicken.

Each of the dishes were tasted and judged by a panel which included Brewers Fayre's food marketing manager Gordon Wright, development chef Simon Blunt and marketing manager Louise Crawley, as well as a representative from supplier Bar and Restaurant Foods.

After much deliberation, the north-east regional winner Melvin Jordan was announced as the overall winner with his Whitby fish pie which used local fish, prawns, cream and a splash of dry Martini.

Jordan said: 'I'm surprised, but delighted to have been chosen as the national winner. The whole experience of the final has been fantastic and we've all received so much support from the chefs and judges. I can't wait to see my dish appear in my local restaurant one day.'

As well as his recipe appearing on a future Brewers Fayre menu, Jordan won £1,000. Each of the six other finalists took home £250.

Brewers Fayre's Wright said: 'We were really impressed with the standard and choosing an overall winner was so difficult that we eventually had to come down to a vote. The success of the competition proves that regional dishes and cooking styles are still very much alive.'

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