Joseph Jones Young Welsh Chef of the Year

DEBUTANT JOSEPH CROWNED YOUNG WELSH CHEF OF YEAR

November 21, 2008

A 22-year-old Bridgend chef marked his competition debut by cooking his way to the coveted Young Welsh Chef of the Year title and in the process secured a dream trip to compete in Chile. Joseph Jones, chef de partie at The Great House Hotel, Bridgend, clinched the double reward by beating five other talented young chefs from across Wales at the inaugural Welsh Chefs Conference in Cardiff.

Jones impressed the panel of judges with his creative three course menu that started with an assiette of lobster with lobster, apple and sage tortellini, lobster and Per Las soufflé and classic lobster bisque. His main course was smoked cannon of Elwy Valley Welsh Lamb, fondant potato, shepherd’s pie, carrot puree and a rich lamb jus. To round it all off his dessert was hot chocolate and toffee fondant, beetroot sorbet and pistachio tuille. "It’s an incredible feeling knowing that that I have won the competition," he said. "This is a great reward for six-and-a-half years’ work and I am looking forward to competing more in the future.

" He said he had chosen the menu because of the quality Welsh ingredients and nice flavours and was satisfied with the finished dishes. "I was very happy with the taste of the dishes and everything went according to plan," he added "We knew how good the Elwy Welsh Lamb was and we gave it even more flavour by smoking it ourselves," he explained. "With the dessert, I wanted to finish off with an outstanding chocolate dessert.

" In the final, held at Glamorgan Cricket’s SWALEC Stadium, Jones edged out five rivals, Johnathon Goodman from Ruthin Castle, Ruthin, Tom Middleton from Hotel Maes y Neuadd, Talsarnau, Harlech, Phil Clarke from the Armless Dragon Restaurant, Cardiff, David Szanto from The Chandlery Restaurant, Newport and Andrew Sheridan from The Groes Inn Hotel, Conwy. They each had to cook their own creative menu of a three course dinner for four, using Welsh Lamb, Welsh Beef or pork and a selection of True Taste award winning products.

Jones, who received his award from Deputy Skills Minister John Griffiths at a presentation dinner last night (Wednesday), will represent Wales at the World Skills competition to be held at the World Association of Chefs’ Societies’ Conference in Chile in January, 2010. Chairman of judges, Graham Tinsley, manager of the Welsh National Culinary Team, said Jones was a deserved winner because of the consistency of his three dishes. "The judges had good comments about each of the chefs and it was a well fought battle, but they were unanimous in making Joseph the winner," he added. "It’s pleasing to see that there are some promising junior chefs coming through in Wales." The competition and conference, organised by the Welsh Culinary Association, are sponsored by the Welsh Assembly Government to promote the food and drink industry brand ’True Taste’, Hybu Cig Cymru/ Meat Promotion Wales, the Applied Ability Awards, Skills Competition Wales and Tourism Training for Wales.

Winner Joseph Jones with the Young Welsh Chef of theYear trophy.