THREE Cumbria chefs have been named as Roux Scholarship regional finalists.

Alain Roux and Michel Roux Jr have revealed that Aaron Lawrence, of Gilpin Lodge, Windermere and Samuel Nash and Ben Champkin, both of L’Enclume, Cartmel, are three of the 18 regional finalists for 2018.

The chefs were selected from their paper application and written recipe and they will now compete in two regional finals which will be held simultaneously on Thursday March 8 at University College Birmingham and University of West London, Ealing.

Mr Lawrence and Mr Nash will compete in Birmingham under judges Alain Roux, Brian Turner, James Martin, André Garrett (2002 scholar), Simon Hulstone (2003 scholar). While Mr Champkin will be judged by Michel Roux Jr, Sat Bains (1999 scholar) Andrew Fairlie (Head Scholar, 1984), Angela Hartnett, Rachel Humphrey and Clare Smyth.

In the regional final, competitors will have two-and-a-half hours to cook their dish, along with a dessert from a mystery box of ingredients given to them on the day. The judges will be looking for recipes and methods, which demonstrate the best balance of creativity, taste, style and practicality in the finished dish.

Also competing in Birmingham are; Daniel Parker, of House of Tides, Newcastle; Ryan Porter, of Northcote, Lancashire; Kelvin Tan, of Sat Bains, Nottingham and Ricki Weston, of Sat Bains, Nottingham.

Also competing in London will be; Greg Anderson, of Morston Hall, Norfolk; Sven-Hanson Britt, of Miele GB, Oxfordshire; Martin Carabott, of 85 Piccadilly, London; Michael Cruickshank, of Bohemia, Jersey; Richard Giles, of Sorrel, Surrey; Kamil Jedrzejewski, of Hilton, York; Daniel Lines, of Restaurant Associates (KPMG), London; Oliver Marlow, of Roganic, London; Karl O’Dell, of Petrus, London; Drew Snaith, of Mare Street Market, London; and Fergus Wilford, of Cliveden House, Berkshire.

Michel Roux Jr said: “Some of the recipes were absolutely amazing but unfortunately some of the costings were really not up to scratch. Young chefs have to understand that the costings are very important and business acumen is something that chefs have to learn. No female entrants made it through to the cook-off stage, which is sad, but we will keep on pushing that and with our new judges Clare, Rachel and Angela we hope to inspire more female chefs to apply next year.”

Alain Roux said: “There was a lot of thought and imagination in the recipes and the chefs brought their personality into the dishes. When it comes to cooking the recipes at the regional finals, some will find the time frame a bit challenging, bearing mind that they’ll also have a dessert to create.”