Young chef butters up Phil Howard in Meadowland competition to win a day of mentoring

Joshua Dallaway, head chef of the newly opened Jackdaw Jazz Café in Hackney, has won a day’s mentoring with chef Phil Howard after successfully buttering him up with his Meadowland-inspired recipe in the brand’s recent Butter me up competition.

Launched to encourage chefs to trial and experiment with the new butter alternative – Meadowland Professional – the competition invited chefs nationwide to get creative and impress Phil Howard with a Meadowland-inspired entry.

Selected by Phil Howard for his innovative and vibrant approach, Joshua’s entry centered around his own recipe for Millionaire Shortbread which included chocolate and honey-whipped ganache, caramel and wild mushroom shortbread - made using Meadowland Professional. This was finished with wild mushroom powder, sourdough toast crisps, burnt toast powder, smoked sea salt and new season olive oil.

Phil Howard, chef and co-owner of two-Michelin star restaurant The Square and Meadowland Butter me up competition judge said: “I was really impressed with Joshua’s recipe and his approach to food. The new Jackdaw Jazz Café is run by three young chefs and has a lot of great energy and passion behind it. They are doing interesting things with interesting ingredients and I am looking forward to trying the Meadowland-inspired Jackdaw Millionaire Shortbread and working with Joshua to share my experience and give him some advice for the future.”

Phil Howard will visit Joshua at Jackdaw Jazz Café for one day, where he will look at the menu, try the dishes, advise on improvements and give the young team the benefit of his 30 years in the industry.

>>> Related: Phil Howard, co-owner, The Square Restaurant, London

Winner Joshua said: “We’re very excited about welcoming Phil to the Café. We love what we do and live the industry from dusk till dawn. His level of knowledge and expertise is invaluable to a young start-up, like us.”

Rhodri Morgan, marketing manager for Meadowland Professional, said: “The Butter me up campaign was designed to encourage chefs to experiment with Meadowland Professional, which is an exciting new product that tastes and performs like butter, but at a better price*. We’re delighted to help Joshua celebrate his success with one of the biggest names in the industry.”

For a free sample of Meadowland Professional, visit https://www.unileverfoodsolutions.co.uk/product/meadowland-professional-250g-1-EN-177323.html