THE hunt is on for culinary talent as South West Chef of the Year 2015 opens for entries. This prestigious cooking competition offers aspiring chefs, those already working in the industry and home cooks the opportunity to gain recognition for their culinary skill.

Judge and co-founder of the competition, Michael Caines, says: “I invite anyone with a passion for cooking to enter South West Chef of the Year. We are now in our 12th year and the competition is just a fantastic way for budding chefs to experience cooking at a high level, to compete against peers and receive feedback from top chefs. It’s been a real career launch pad over the years and I have been very excited to see entrants thrive during and beyond the competition.”

The five categories are: Professional, Young Professional, Student Chef, Home Cook and Junior. All are now open for entries with contenders invited to submit their application online via the website southwestchef.co.uk/how-to-enter/ by the deadline of August 16.

South West Chef of the Year provides entrants with an excellent opportunity to cook for and learn from renowned professional chefs.

The Professional class is for those already working within the industry at the level of pastry chef, junior sous or above. Entrants must be at least 24 years old.

The Young Professional class gives chefs aged 19 to 23 years the chance to compete against their peers. The Student/Apprentice Chef class is open to those aged 16 to 19 years who are at college or in an apprenticeship. Entry is via catering colleges across the South West and some additional places have been made available to individual entrants.

All menus will be carefully considered for creativity, skill and use of regional produce. Chefs entering the selected menus will be invited to the semi-finals held at Exeter College on Saturday October 3 where they will be asked to cook their dishes for the judges. Successful finalists will then go through to the final held on Thursday October 29.

Entrants to the Home Cooks category must be aged 16 or above are asked to create a main course and dessert for two people using a meat or fish option comprising a whole chicken, a whole lemon sole and for dessert a recipe using all or one of the following: apples, pears and chocolate.

The Junior class, open to 11-16 year olds, began taking entries last month, asking budding young chefs to enter the recipe for a main course dish. Semi-finals for this category will be held in each county of the South West during September, culminating in a final on October 10.