Future Of Food In Britain Is In Safe Hands Over 200 budding young chefs applied for the inaugural Grana Padano Young Chef of the Year Competition and on Wednesday 19th April Michelin starred chef, Giorgio Locatelli, judged Craig Hammond's pot roast pork belly dish the winner. The aim of the competition was to encourage and support young chefs in their professional growth as this is an area of great importance and value to the Consorzio Grana Padano. The four finalists who took part all produced dishes of outstanding quality but with barely 10 points between first and fourth place it was the 19 year old chef from the Shurland Hotel in Sheerness, Kent, who stole the show with his outstanding use of Grana Padano in his recipe. Craig and the three other finalists (pictured above) - Michael Little form the Midlands, Greg Thorne form East Anglia and Saravanan Vinuchakravarthy from London - were all invited to the esteemed Westminster Catering College to produce their winning entries in a cook off style final. Craig's winning recipe - detailed below - which best illustrated the versatility and flavour of Italy's official number one selling cheese, earns him an all expenses paid trip for two to northern Italy where Grana Padano is produced. Obviously delighted with winning he said, "I'm thrilled to have won! I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and having Giorgio Locatelli announce my dish to be the best was a real honour." The other finalists were also very impressed by Craig's dish and were unanimously graceful in defeat, commenting that he thoroughly deserved the victory. When asked about his prize he added, "I'm really looking forward to seeing what's in store for me in Italy and seeing where Grana Padano is made, it's a fantastic prize. I can't wait to go." The trip will include a visit to Verona, a tour of a Grana Padano Dairy, scenic trips to Lake Garda and various trips to renowned Italian restaurants, where Craig will have the opportunity to witness first hand how Grana Padano is traditionally used in recipes. Each dish was judged individually and on various criteria - technique, presentation, taste and smell, use of Grana Padano and professionalism. All four chefs proved very competent in each category making Gioirgio Locatelli's job challenging to say the least. "All four of the dishes would have made the menu." He commented, "it was a very close call with barely 10 points between the winning dish and the fourth placed dish. In the end it was Craig's use of Grana Padano which clinched it for him. But credit to the other chefs as they proved to be very stiff competition." With Craig Hammond crowned as the Grana Padano Young Chef of 2006 at the young age of 19, it is extremely reassuring to know that the future of cookery in Britain is in exceptionally capable hands.   top