Top chefs in fundraising dinner bid for Asian apprenticeship scheme

Chefs Vivek Singh (pictured), Atul Kochhar, Cyrus Todiwala and Philip Corrick are joining forces to raise money for Mastara Chef, a chef apprenticeship scheme from the Asian Restaurant Skills Board.

It is hoped that this will contribute significantly to Mastara Chef's overall funding target of £38,000. Tickets for the dinner will cost £95 each, and the evening will also include live music entertainment and an auction, for which prizes include a weekend with a Bentley car.

The dishes will reflect the chefs' own style, with each preparing a different course.

Corrick's amuse-bouches of Orkney scallops with cauliflower purée will be followed by Todiwala's Bombay style chicken salad and mutton pie (or smoked aubergine and potato pie for vegetarians), Singh's main course of Rajasthani roast saddle of lamb and masala cashew nuts (or Tandoori pepper and paneer), finishing with Kochhar's rose-scented yoghurt dessert Bhapa Doi.

The Mastara Chef scheme is a programme from the Asian Restaurant Skills board, in association with hospitality skills company People 1st, and the Government.

Its aims include combatting recent immigration laws which have made it more difficult for Asian restaurants to recruit staff from abroad, and offering funding to UK-based apprentices taking an Asian cuisine course at the University of West London.

Mastara Chef apprentices have gone on to work in top kitchens, and Singh is just one of the chefs to employ them in his kitchens - which also include the Cinnamon Kitchen and Cinnamon Soho.

Speaking of his involvement in the programme, Singh said: "I am delighted to be supporting the Mastara Chef initiative. I work with some extremely gifted and enthusiastic apprentices, and hope we can raise money and awareness of the fantastic work they do to support the next generation of chefs."

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