A cook-off in the Young Scottish Seafood Chef of the Year Competition saw Nico Simeone (20) from the Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh, beat five other finalists to claim the title. The competition took place at the Edinburgh School of Food and Wine, Newliston.
“I am really chuffed to win in the face of such stiff competition, and thrilled to be the Young Seafood Chef of the Year because I have a passion for seafood!” he said.
Simeone’s winning dishes were:
Ceviche of mackerel, avocado puree and langoustine beignet
Halibut with soft parmesan polenta, fricassee of asparagus, peas and morel, soft boiled quail’s egg and crisp Serrano ham
Simeone received a specially commissioned trophy and a bottle of champagne, a trip to Lyon in January 2011 to see the world’s top chefs in action at the Bocuse d’Or competition, a week’s work experience at Ondine with seafood chef Roy Brett, and the opportunity to cook a meal for the First Minister and guests at a seafood celebration dinner.
He was also presented with a Federation of Chefs Scotland Gold Medal, which is only awarded to competitors in international competition scoring more than 90 marks.
First runner up Adam Newth, from The Seafood Restaurant, St Andrews and second runner up Stuart Ritchie, Marine Hotel, Troon, were presented with silver medals from the Federation.
The panel of judges, headed by Ian MacDonald, St Andrew’s Links, and vice president of the Federation of Chefs Scotland, also included Roy Brett and David Murray, Houston House.
They judged finalists on their imagination in choice of recipe ingredients, use of seasonal Scottish produce, and skill in preparation, cooking and presentation.
“The quality of the entries was very high and it is great to see such enthusiasm for seafood cookery. We had a difficult job today, but there was a worthy winner and I wish him luck in his career,” said MacDonald.
The six chefs cooked a seafood starter and main course dish using species chosen from a list of Scottish seafood that included salmon, Gigha halibut and mussels for one course, and mackerel, haddock and langoustine for another.
Sarah Holmyard, Seafood Scotland marketing executive, said the competition had generated considerable interest from chefs in colleges, hotels and restaurants throughout the country.
“It is part of a wider package of measures designed to encourage greater consumption of Scottish seafood, and working with young chefs is an effective way to do that,” she said. “We are delighted to welcome Nico Simeone as our new Seafood Chef of the Year and look forward to working with him over the coming months to promote sustainable Scottish seafood.”
