Kikkoman Masters 2016 Finalists Announced

Kikkoman Masters has announced a shortlist of ten finalists in the highly regarded Kikkoman Masters chefs’ competition.  The ten chefs will go on to compete for the coveted title and to win a seven day trip to Japan.

Judges including  Simon Hulstone, chef/owner at Michelin-starred restaurant The Elephant in Torquay, Brian Turner CBE, David Mulcahy, Craft Guild of Chefs and Bing-yu Lee of Kikkoman UK met last week to select the 10 finalists. 

Simon Hulstone said: “The standard of entries this year was very high and we received a good number of entries.  Paper judging was tricky but we all agree the final 10 chefs really understood the criteria of the competition.  We look forward to welcoming them to the final cook-off.”

Bing-yu Lee, Kikkoman UK Manager added “We had a fantastic selection of entries from chefs all around the UK.  The chefs were certainly very inspirational with the use of Kikkoman Soy Sauce. Kikkoman is naturally brewed up to 6 months using just 4 ingredients – soybeans, wheat, salt and water, giving it a rich and distinctive aroma.  

The final of this prestigious catering competition will take place at the Restaurant Show on Monday, 3 October from 2pm.  Scott Hallsworth of Kurobuta, Stefan Chomka from Restaurant Magazine and last year’s winner, Ben Champkin from L’Enclume, will join Simon, Brian, David and Bing-Yu to watch the finalists recreate their two course menu using Kikkoman Naturally Brewed Soy Sauce as an integral ingredient.  The finalists will have just 90 minutes to create their dishes using meat or fish in either course. 

The final ten are as follows:

Mark Apsey, Development Chef, L’Ortolan

Ollie Hay, Head Chef, Nomura (RA)

David Hussey, Executive Head Chef, Sodexo – Eton College

Nikki Low, Head Chef, Vacherin

Tom Moody, Junior Sous Chef, Slaughters Manor House

Paul O’Malley, Head Chef, Culcreuch Castle Hotel

Saurabh Prabhakar, Head Chef, Hilton Hotel

David Scarpato, Sous Chef, Gemellis

Girishkumar Talwar, Sous Chef, Radission Blu Edwardian Sussex

Michael Wickham, Sous Chef, Royal Automobile Club

For more information visit www.kikkoman.co.uk or follow on Twitter @KikkomanMasters