Regional Finalists 2022-23

Through this dish, I express Japan’s Satoyama culture, a way of life rooted in the coexistence of people and nature. Festivals, prayers for abundant harvests, care for the environments that provide food, and cooperation within rural communities are values deeply embedded in Japanese society. As a chef, I believe cuisine must begin with an awareness of the ecosystems that sustain our ingredients. Satoyama is a philosophy I wish to share with the world and a model for the future of cooking.

My Dish, from a village by Kerala's backwaters, is inspired by where the historic spice route shaped our rich cultural heritage. I aim to BREAK THE SHELLS of outdated mud crab cooking methods, moving beyond traditional curries. I believe every part of the crab can be utilised wisely akin to other types of meat. My signature dish combines my grandmother's traditional flavour with innovative, sustainable twists inspired by my culinary travels in Southeast Asia, highlighting Kerala ingredients.

What I would like to express through this dish is Thai culture, is blended with French because I want to bring Thai food that people eat every day to make it look more exotic and delicious. mixed with the French cuisine that I'm working on.

Receiving whole deer every fortnight, I noticed that the unused offal was being wasted. So I decided to put them to good use in a dish to raise awareness of food waste. My aim is to promote responsible and sustainable cooking, reflecting my passion for gastronomy and my values of respect for natural resources.

This is the purest form of expression of my journey. This dish will take you through the beginning of my career all the way to the present. It takes inspiration from my grandmother’s impactful love for cooking transmitted to me as a young girl, to the reflection of my culinary career. My development as a chef and the learning of cultures, were turning points of finding my own identity and what has devoted me to this chapter.

L’Aube au féminin celebrates all that embodies femininity in all its richness and diversity. Rooted in the earth, the beetroot represents strength and resilience; in pink, it celebrates beauty and gentleness. The flowers echo this gentleness and evoke kindness through their healing power. The female duck, the centrepiece of the dish, embodies protection, instinct and freedom. This dish pays tribute to those who infuse every new dawn with light and vitality.

With this dish I want to show my love for the italian country, people, language and its cousine. And of course all the delicious ingredients. So I took the ingredients of my favorite dish "pasta e patate" and made a variant as main plate, another variante as a satellite plate and last but not least the original "pasta e patate". Classics will never be old.

This dish symbolises the union of Latin American and Bavarian traditions, reflecting my culinary journey. By blending these rich cultures, I create a bridge that unites people through food. It represents my passion for merging vibrant Latin American flavours with hearty Bavarian comforts, celebrating the unique histories and identities of both. This fusion cuisine showcases my belief that food can unite diverse worlds. My philosophy of honouring traditions while creating harmonious experience

My dish is intended to showcase the colourful diversity and wonderful flavours of my homeland. The idea of my dish is based on my experiences and the various inspirations of my career. I want to put my homeland and our great produce centre stage.

I learned to respect nature and its ingredients from my grandmothers. In their kitchen, waste was minimal and every flavor was honest and true. That philosophy shaped my roots, and those flavors inspire A Rabbit Walking Around the Mountains. I see myself in a carefully tended garden and in the work of local producers, thoughtfully chosen, whose dedication gives my cuisine its deepest connection to the land. Everything rests on attention to to detail and rigorous, passionate technique.

I see cuisine as a means of transmission. It brings pleasure while questioning our relationship with living things. This dish embodies that belief. The Grise du Vercors, a breed preserved from standardisation, is used in its entirety. Guided by phronesis, I seek thoughtful choices rooted in its terroir. Each element conveys a simple idea: value lies in what we choose to preserve, despite time and constraints.

Through this dish I wanted to put at the center of the plate a region which is rich with simple products. Sturgeon is not usually valued for its meat but for its caviar, it is not an easy fish to work, but I wanted to put it in the spotlight and use the caviar to season it only , give him back what belongs to him, with respect for the products and the producers.

The dish idea combines Spain and Italy's linguistic and cultural ties, rich in shared elements I value. I'll merge Spanish stewed tongue with Italian cold tongue, reflecting my veggie passion. Ingredients like salsify, watercress, wild plants, and roots will be preserved, enhancing the dish and fostering a connection with nature.

The dish represents my whole essence as a cook and as a person. It evokes my Italian-Granadian roots. It is a journey through the 5 senses that reflects my culinary maturity learned so far. At the same time, it aims to show diners the values that represent my cuisine. Love for the profession, respect for the raw material and sustainability with the environment.

From head to toe. That's what came to my mind when I decided that my dish should be mainly pork. Pork is a product that shows us that everything can be used and that nothing should be wasted. At the same time, most pork-based preparations require long cooking times and the patience that goes with it. For me, making the most of time and time are the indisputable pillars of any kitchen, and that is where this dish I am presenting has come from.

The dish is the result of a creative process that gives new life to discarded glass fragments, reassembled in a symphony of transparent shapes and colours. The artichoke becomes the protagonist, accompanied by fleshy elements that enhance its intensity without overpowering it, here the meat accompanies the vegetables, not the other way around. A zero-waste vision, this applies to materials as much as to food. The ferrosity of the heart accompanied by the butter mousse complete the artichoke's honesty and freshness.

This dish revolves around the use of the main part of the ingredients and those of “ scrap “ , nothing is thrown away, rather at the end of each preparation what’s left is used as a base for another recipe. This is to raise consciousness of the Chef on food waste and consequently on the human resources used for the production of raw ingredients.

'Mappina' is a salad typical of the province of Cosenza. In Le ricette regionali italiane (1967), Anna Gosetti della Salda writes: “Take several lettuce hearts, wash them thoroughly, drain them and place them in a bowl; sprinkle them with small pieces of garlic and chilli pepper, salt and a little oil. Place a weight on top of the salad and leave it like this for two or three days in the refrigerator…” (p. 947). This historic recipe provides the starting point for an entirely plant-based narrative rooted in the flavors and traditions of Southern Italy.

The chinampas is an efficient and sustainable agricultural system, it is an articulated set of artificial floating islands that were built since pre-Hispanic times. Through this dish, which has been inspired by this ecosystem, using only ingredients that are grown or can be found in this place, applying techniques and preparations of Mexican gastronomy, I seek to highlight the importance of chinampas, the organic products that are grown there and also recognize the hard work of the producer.

For this contest I wanted to create a dish that had the essence of my country. For this, use several products that are not commonly used in Colombian haute cuisine but giving them a transformation, respecting their essence that reaches all palates, extolling their properties. All these foods have a great importance in the daily food of Colombians and by including them on my plate they can show the world the diversity that characterizes us as a country.

All the ingridients in my dish come from the farm I grew up, I sowed them myself, and I prepared them using traditional and contemporary techniques. The aim is for the judges to eat a humble part of Colombia at its best. I want this dish to be a way to give a voice to the farmers who had to leave their land and to create reflections about the crops and dishes that call themselves sustainable but often cause damage to the countryside and the traditional knowledge of peasant families.

I once read an interview stating that food waste is a fatal flaw in fine dining restaurants. Many ingredients, from purchase to plating, end up being only 50%-70% of their original quantity, with an average of 30% of ingredients being wasted. However, sustainable development is a social responsibility and obligation that we, as the new generation of young chefs, must undertake. At this moment, I utilize various cooking techniques to fully utilize ingredients and minimize waste, aiming to convey my thoughts on sustainable development as a young chef.

This dish explores the dialogue between Eastern and Western dairy cultures through the concept of "Oriental Dairy Coagulation." While the West relies on animal milk, Eastern cuisine transforms soybeans into soy milk, tofu, dried bean curd and soy sauce. Through live soybean processing and the use of soybean residue, I showcase this culinary heritage while highlighting sustainability, paying tribute to one of the pillars of Eastern cuisine.

This dish is inspired by my journey across China, from Kashgar to Hami in Xinjiang China, where I gathered inspiration from what I saw, heard, and experienced. It incorporates a variety of Xinjiang ingredients and cooking techniques, expressing my love for the region. I used the spice rub from Xinjiang's traditional whole roasted lamb to slow-cook the Xinjiang Altay lamb eye meat over charcoal, resulting in a flavorful dish.

I truly believe that the most important element is to have passion for food and cooking. Having passion for what you do will help to drive you to work harder every day. For me, I have a passion for good and clean cooking. When it comes to creating dishes, my culinary philosophy is that everything on the plate has to be “clean”, flavourful, and showcase the beauty of nature

To achieve that, I believe in using the best products ranging from sea, land, and forest to create innovative dishes.

We are a modern Spanish restaurant and this dish is my interpretation of the gamba al ajillo.

Traditionally, the prawns are often fried, but that is at the expense of the prawns. I think it's important that everything of a product is used. No unnecessary waste. In our version we use the whole shrimp.

This dish has everything I like. Crustaceans are my favorite product. Acids from the lemon and crispy from the kaitafi.

Chicken and buckwheat is one of the cheapest healthy meal options that is very common to cook among people in Estonia. However, the way it is cooked is usually very boring and not very pleasant to eat. With this dish, I tried to take these simple ingredients and create something new. I want to showcase that despite the importance of high quality ingredients, chefs are the ones who actually make the difference and create new dishes.

Growing up in New Zealand shaped my respect for seafood and the ocean. Inspired by the cultural significance of pāua and the values of stewardship that underpin New Zealand's coastal identity, this dish celebrates lobster and abalone in their fullest expression. Through classical technique and whole-animal utilisation, from sauce Américaine made from the shells to the pāua liver xo. I want to honour both the ingredient and the place that shaped me.

The inspiration behind this dish is the imagery of the sun reflecting on the gentle ocean waves.
The sunlight and delicate sea foam cast marbled shadows on the sand dunes below.
In the shallow waters of the sea floor, the turbot camouflages itself in the rippled shadows, swimming between the dancing seaweed, like curtains of a theatre.
The potato being the roots of the land completes the dish by complementing the flavour of the turbot and seaweed, but emulating the delicate fins of this Fish.

Through this dish, I aim to express the elegance and complexity of Australian gourmet cuisine. The combination of duck, plums, and Australian black truffles showcases the country's rich agricultural diversity and culinary potential. The dish pays homage to my grandfather's farm and Australia's ability to produce high-quality, luxury ingredients and its growing reputation in the global gourmet scene.

Serbia is land of contrasts. Its people know hardship, difficult soil, and scarity - but they also know pride. From struggle comes something almost irrational: Uncoditional Hospitality. When guests arrive, poverty disappears. Everything is placed on the table, and family gathers around it. And there is always Šopska salad. This dish has long surpassed the form of salad. It is prose about people, hardship, and defiance. The salad is no longer left in the corner. Now, it stands in front of you.

Influence of different cuisines from where I learned becoming French and Spanish my biggest influence, without leaving aside the importance of ingredients, traditions, and heritage of my country, Ecuador, taking care of local producers and craftsman, always taking full advantage and respect for the product with a touch of modernity, creating an experience of textures and sensations in each perfect bite.

I believe true cuisine should preserve emotion, memory and identity. In Silesia, where I was born, Sunday meals brought generations together around one table. Rabbit, once raised beside my family home and served only on special Sundays, became a symbol of my earliest memories: my grandmother’s kitchen, my grandfather’s smokehouse, and the wild mushrooms I now forage with my wife. Through contemporary technique, this dish preserves warmth, belonging and the feeling of home for future generations.

With this dish, I would like to invite customers to travel into the summer season and beautiful products we can find in Suffolk, the sea bass comes from a fishmonger who work only with small boats and line caught fish. The cherries and the fennel are local from Suffolk farm This dish is a mix of the sea and country side which represent a big part part of the county identity.

Growing up in a Mangalorean Catholic family in Mumbai, Sundays meant sorpotel simmering in my mother Veronica’s kitchen, surrounded by music, laughter, and family. Inspired by our post-church breakfasts, this dish reimagines those memories through pork, dosa, balchão, poa, and sambar — a tribute to my heritage, childhood, and the woman who shaped my love for food.

It is my homage to one of the most iconic animals of a place which I now call home, the Scottish Highlands. I want to express my identity as a chef in this competition by using local and sustainable ingredients, showing respect for the animal by using everything I could. I wanted to showcase the techniques I have learnt in my short time in this industry, with butchery, pastry work and sauce making at the heart of the dish.

“Pozole or Chawanmushi...?” reflects my journey as a chef. Through pozole, corn, and Japanese technique, I express where I come from in Mexico, the kitchens that shaped me, and the direction of my career. The dish blends memory, discipline, and creativity into one experience, honoring tradition while exploring a more personal and modern culinary identity.

I would like to show my background in culinary arts by showcasing what I’ve learned and experienced in my time in this industry. Showcasing new American cuisine that celebrates all cultures and techniques.

I believe great cuisine is created through balance: honoring tradition while embracing new influences. My foundation comes from French training in Paris, where I became fascinated by the Japanese influence on modern French cuisine, particularly its emphasis on seasonality, restraint, and clarity of flavor. Through peak-season cherries, plums, and duck, this dish reflects my belief that the most meaningful cooking comes from respecting the season and allowing ingredients to speak for themselves.

Expressing the connection between the interior of Portugal and the Atlantic coast. Iberian black pork represents the land and my rural roots, while the clams and Bulhão Pato reflect our maritime heritage. Bread at the table can never be absent and is always there to soak up the sauce.

By combining traditional flavours with contemporary techniques, I seek to honour the ingredients and culture that have shaped me as a chef, showing that Portugal guides me in every sense: personal, culinary and gastronomic.

My cuisine is driven by the desire to challenge the traditional hierarchy of the plate. With this dish, the vegetable becomes the centre of the narrative — not as an alternative to protein, but as the primary expression of flavour. Through different techniques, I explore depth, texture, and emotion. The kingfish takes on a supporting role, bringing salinity and umami without dominating. Every part of the ingredient is valued to create a balanced dialogue between elements.

I am a chef inspired by memory, roots and the stories behind every ingredient. The flavors of this dish shaped my childhood and remind me of my grandmother, who taught me that food is a language of love. The turkey represents migration: native to Latin America, it crossed borders and found a place in other cultures without losing its essence. Whether classic or modern, there is only one kind of cuisine: good cuisine. Looking to the future, I want cuisine to be seen as a language that brings people together.