Ellon Chef Wins Young Scottish Seafood Chef Title

An exciting cook-off in the Young Scottish Seafood Chef of the Year competition saw Orry Shand (21) of Eat on the Green, Ellon, beat five other finalists to claim the title in Edinburgh yesterday.

The victorious chef, who competed for the title at the Edinburgh School of Food and Wine at Newliston, near Edinburgh, said: "There was very tough competition, so to win was amazing. I am very happy with today and enjoyed the experience of competing. I have a real passion for seafood."

Orry’s winning dishes were:

• Seared scallops with crab and cucumber cannelloni, carrot and vanilla puree, summer vegetable salad and lime vinaigrette
• Salted hake with herb and parmesan crust, crushed jersey royals, roast pine nuts, roast squid, baby spinach, white asparagus and asparagus sauce

Orry received a specially commissioned trophy, a week’s work experience at The Captain’s Galley in Scrabster, and the opportunity to cook for Seafood Scotland at events throughout the year. He was also presented with a Federation of Chefs Scotland Silver Medal.

Joint runners-up were Adam Newth from No 1, The Balmoral and Barry Robertson, Turnberry Hotel, who were also presented with silver medals from the Federation.

Federation of Chefs Scotland judges Ian MacDonald (St Andrews Links Trust) and Joe Queen (Glasgow Hilton) were joined by Jim Cowie, The Captain’s Galley, to determine the winner.

They judged finalists on their imagination in choice of recipe ingredients, use of seasonal Scottish produce, and skill in preparation, cooking and presentation.

"It was very encouraging to see the young chefs’ understanding of sustainable seafood and the way they were able to use them to create modern style restaurant dishes," said Joe Queen. "We had a difficult job today, but there was a worthy winner and I wish him luck in his career."

Jim Cowie said: "I look forward to having Orry work in the restaurant in the near future, and aim to increase his depth of knowledge about the raw material and to refining his skills.

"We use a lot of local seafood and do our own marinating, smoking and brining, and I am sure that he will learn a lot from his time with us."

Ian MacDonald added: "We were impressed with the skills shown by all the chefs today and with their attention to detail, and congratulations go to them all for getting to the finals."

The finalists cooked a seafood starter and main course dish using a selection of sustainable species from Scottish hake, herring, haddock, megrim, squid, crab and scallops.

Clare Dixon, Seafood Scotland marketing manager, 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 achieve that," she said.

"We are delighted to welcome Orry Shand as our new Seafood Chef of the Year and look forward to working with him over the coming months to promote sustainable Scottish seafood."

The other finalists were: Michael Clark, The Seafood Restaurant, St Andrews; Meagan Toye, Raploch community campus; and Anastasios Neofitas, Byzantium, Dundee.

Seafood Scotland.

Federation of Chefs Scotland.

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