Grace is at the Top of her Game in UK Culinary Competition 

South Eastern Regional College (SERC) is extremely proud of our Higher Level Apprentice in Culinary Arts, Grace Dugan, who has won the UK-wide Eat Wild Young Chef Competition, held in London recently.

Eat Wild promotes the use of wild game in cooking and hosted the contest in collaboration with the Craft Guild of Chefs.   The final, held at Unilever headquarters in Kingston upon Thames, was designed to showcase the versatility of wild ingredients and to celebrate the skill and creativity of the next generation of chefs.  

To be selected for the finals, Grace had to submit photographs and details of two original dishes using wild meat only – one bar snack/street food dish and one comfort/everyday meal. Grace impressed the judges with her venison hotdog with smoked venison heart, and pheasant with lentils.  

She has won a handcrafted, cast-iron pan, a clay pigeon shooting lesson, and a day in the kitchen with Mark Kempson of Michelin-starred Kitchen W8 in London, followed by dinner for four people.  Mark Kempson is an advocate for cooking with wild food and the connection to nature that this brings.  

Grace Dugan was competing against five other young chefs from around the UK.   All six finalists were awarded a three-year membership of the Craft Guild of Chefs, alongside a chef’s jacket and an Eat Wild apron and got to tour a game processing company before their final heat began.  

Grace, who is 20 and from Belfast, is employed by The Culloden Hotel and has been studying at SERC Bangor Campus for four years, since starting on a Level 3 Diploma in Professional Cookery.   

Chef Mark Kempson, announcing the result, commented that there was nothing he would change in Grace’s dishes, and said he hoped she would be able to take up her prize and join him in his restaurant for a day very soon.  

Ian Page, from the Craft Guild of Chefs, commented, 

“The standard of entries this year was exceptional — every dish showed great creativity, skill, and passion for working with wild ingredients. Your dishes really stood out, and you should be incredibly proud of this achievement.”

Paul Mercer, Principal Lecturer, School of Hospitality & Culinary Arts at SERC said, “We are absolutely delighted for Grace. She is a fantastic apprentice who is passionate about food. She worked hard to perfect the her venison hotdog with smoked venison heart, and pheasant with lentils, and this proved to be the top dish with the judges.

He added, “Grace has progress through SERC from the Level 3 Diploma in Professional Cookery to the Higher Level Apprenticeship where she is employed with the The Culloden Hotel. She is a credit to the college and her employer and we wish her continued success.”

Main picture: Grace Dugan, SERC Higher Level Apprentice, who was announced the winner of the Uk–wide Eat Wild Young Chef Competition, with judges (l-r) Louisa Clutterbuck CEO Eat Wild;Ian Page, Young Chef Ambassador of Craft Guild of Chefs; and Mark Reynolds Chairman of the Craft Guild of Chefs