JOE REDDIE from St Andrews Links Trust has been announced as the Scotch Beef Scottish Young Chef of the Year.

Mr Reddie won the national competition, run by Scottish Chefs, with a menu that featured a main course of Scotch lamb.

The final, featuring five top young chefs, was held at ScotHot, Scotland’s largest food, drink, hospitality and tourism show, where each of the finalists produced a three-course meal of their choice plus one amuse bouche. These were judged by an expert panel who marked to strict criteria, including plate presentation, seasonality, provenance, quality and balance of flavours.

Chef Reddie impressed the judges by serving up Jerusalem artichoke soup, curry oil and crispy artichoke for the amuse bouche; fillet of halibut, seaweed butter, langoustine tart and broccoli for the starter; loin of Scotch Lamb PGI, carrot and apricot puree and spiced onion sauce for the main; and chocolate mousse, sea buckthorn, sponge and crème fraiche for the dessert.

“I am absolutely delighted to have won the Scotch Beef Scottish Young Chef of the Year Award,” said Joe. “I was up against some really stiff competition and I couldn’t have done it without the support from everyone who was cheering me on at ScotHot and from my colleagues at St Andrews Links Trust.”

Quality Meat Scotland communications manager Claire Higgs said: “It’s fantastic to see some of Scotland’s up-and-coming young chefs getting excited about using top-quality local produce such as Scotch Beef PGI and Scotch Lamb PGI. Chef Reddie’s dishes were truly spectacular. Many congratulations to him.”

Scottish Chefs director, Kevin MacGillivray, said: “The Scotch Beef Scottish Young Chef of the Year award really showcases the skills, innovation and culinary talent of some of Scotland’s young chefs which is exciting to see.”

As the winner of the award, Chef Reddie will now learn from one of the UK’s most talented and well renowned chefs, Chef Cyrus Todiwala. He will spend two days working with the team at Cyrus’s top London restaurant, Café Spice Namaste. He will also receive a £100 voucher to spend in a Scotch Beef Club restaurant of his choice.