Winners of the Teflon Diamond Standard Awards 2020 announced

The winners of the Teflon Diamond Standard Awards 2020 chef finals have been announced.

The three competitions, which took place across two days at the end of January and in early February, offer the chance for non-professional cooks to gain recognition for their cooking abilities and for those attending schools or catering colleges to showcase what they have learnt.

MasterChef 2019 contestant and winner of Channel 4 culinary gameshow Beat the Chef, Yui Miles (pictured) took home the Keen Home Cook prize, opened to entrants age 17 and older.

She was one of nine contestants who were tasked with cooking two courses from their dream dinner. Her winning dishes were a main course of Khoa Soi and ChiangMai noodles as well as a dessert of sticky rice with caramelised coconut, Thai egg custard and sweet and salty prawns paired with lychee gin granita.

She said: “Cooking is a very important part of Thai culture and my family life. I love to cook for a table full of people. I have been cooking from a very young age I love to create and share wonderful dishes to family and friends.

“This is a great opportunity to show everyone how beautiful and delicious my Thai and Chinese food is, especially when you cook from the heart”

Reece Bosowitz won the Keen Young Cook prize, open to entrants between 12 to 16. He was one of 14 contestants that competed in the final cooking his favourite dish of loin of wild fallow deer with parsnips served as a puree, sweet roasted and as crisps, as well as kale, pickled blackberries, walnut ketchup and meat juices.

Jack Rymer won the Aspiring Student Chef prize, open to entrants between 16 and 19. He was one of five shortlisted contestants who were tasked with cooking a signature classic with a twist. His winning dish was roast poussin served with confit poussin leg, red pepper puree and salsa verde mash.

After his win Rymer said: “To win was a great feeling and it is a huge opportunity for my career as a chef, I am very grateful for what the judges have done for me and I aim to take full advantage of the scholarship to advance my skills I have and to learn lots of new skills as a chef.

“I thought the day was extremely well organised with friendly staff to help with any questions we had, they made us feel comfortable and ease the nerves while giving very important constructive feedback on all the dishes we made.”

His prize is a three-year specialised chef’s scholarship at Bournemouth & Poole College. Last year's winner of the Teflon Aspiring Student Chef was Lily Stock.

Lesley Waters led the team of judges and was joined by Luke Matthews, executive head chef of Chewton Glen hotel in Hampshire; Paul Dayman, of Bournemouth & Poole College; and Jacks McDonnell, of Lesley Waters Cookery School in Yeovil.

Suzanne Anderegg and Harriet Chappell were highly commended in the Keen Home Cooks category and Rohan Misir and Katie Prigg were highly commended in the Keen Young Cooks category.

The Diamond Standard Awards were launched in 2012.