The final of the Roux Scholarship 2017 will be held at Westminster Kingsway College on April 10 and there are six regional finalists all hoping to take this year's crown, one of which is
Martin Carabott.

In a special briefing by the judges, 30 minutes before the start of the competition, the finalists are given the recipe and ingredients for a main dish, either classic or modern and asked to prepare and present it. The Staff Canteen spoke to each finalist to find out more about them and what The Roux Scholarship means to them - first up is Martin Carabott.

Martin Carabott started cooking professionally at the age of 16. During his studies at the Institute of Tourism Studies in Malta, his home country, he spent a year’s internship at the Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland, where he returned after graduating.
He completed stages in their two Michelin starred restaurant Andrew Fairlie before moving to London to work at the Michelin starred Apsley’s in The Lanesborough. There, he worked with three Michelin star chef Heinz Beck, then joined executive chef Philip Corrick’s team at The Royal Automobile Club where he worked his way up to senior sous chef.
Currently, Martin works with Michelin starred chef Isaac McHale at his new restaurant Luca, which opened November 2016.

Who or what influences you most in cooking? And how would you describe your style?

I always like to cook with the seasons. I start with the ingredients that are available at their best and cook what I would like to eat at that point in the year. With regards to who influences my style I would say all the people I have worked with from the start of my career until now. I have worked with some fantastic chefs and shared ideas with a lot of people.

Why did you enter the Roux Scholarship again?

I re-entered Roux Scholarship as last year was a great experience. It was one of the most challenging things I have done professionally and I enjoyed it a lot. I would love to see my name alongside other Roux Scholars.

Le Gavroche is celebrating 50 years this year and has been the training ground for a number of amazing chefs, how influential have the Rouxs been to you as a chef even before the competition?

The Roux family are so embedded in the food culture in London and have done so much for the industry. It is very hard not to find someone who hasn’t worked with or isn’t influenced by another chef who didn’t pass through Le Gavroche or worked within a Roux establishment.

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself that people may not know.
I used to play bagpipes

How do you prepare for a competition like the Roux Scholarship and do you have any ‘good luck’ rituals or charms?

I just train according to what I will be doing and work hard. I think everyone makes their own luck at the end of the day and the best training one can do is to work in a kitchen, doing what they like.

What are your plans for the future?

I have just joined the Clove Club team on the new opening of their beautiful sister restaurant, Luca and being part of the opening team, I am very happy and proud of how far we’ve come in four months so for the immediate future I will be there with head chef Robert Chambers and chef owner Isaac McHale. I will also be doing a pop up at Rathfinny estate in Sussex in July this year, details can be found on their website. I am really looking forward to that.

Martin was 3rd place at the Craft Guild of Chefs National Chef of the Year in 2015, and won the CSMA of Great Britain Award for Culinary Excellence. He also achieved the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts Award of Excellence in 2014.
His competitive spirit took him to three of the biggest culinary competitions in the UK last year. He took part in The Roux Scholarship, the National Chef of the Year, making it to the final in both, and the British Culinary Federation Chef of the Year which he won.

>>> Read more about this year's Roux Scholars 

by Thao Ly Nguyen