Following last year’s record breaking total of 19 regional finalists, this year’s Roux Scholarship will see 20 young chefs competing for a place in the finals. According to Michel Roux, co-chairman of the judging panel it was another year of extremely high quality entries, some of which were “outstanding”.

This year’s line up includes: three past national finalists (Leigh Myers of Wordsworth Hotel, Grasmere; Robert Thompson of Winteringham Fields and Alan Irwin of Chapter Two in Blackheath), four past regional finalists (Ethan Rodgers of Bailiffscourt Hotel; Daniel Cox and Bradley Orchard who both work for leading investment bankers with the fine dining division of Compass Group and Ian Boden from the De Vere Belfry). It also sees five contestants from the brigades of Roux Scholars: Vincent Fayat of Ockenden Manor and Ethan Rodgers of Bailiffscourt Hotel in Climping (Matthew Tomkinson & Martin Hadden), Armand Sablon of Orrery (Andre Garrett), Mathew Woolf of The Ritz (Frederick Forster) and Alastair Dale of Claridge’s (Andrew Jones). In addition, there is Robert Thompson of Winteringham Fields, whose older brother Patrick was the 1998 Scholar. “We are so pleased to see the importance that Roux Scholars put on their title and how this is enthusiasm is passed to their siblings and colleagues.” adds Michel Roux.

“This year’s chosen ingredient – duckling – presented us with some very interesting recipes. Simplicity is key, and many of those selected had used tried and tested combinations of ingredients. As usual, the first part of the judging is completely "blind": the judges did not have any idea whose recipe they judged – the finalists are selected purely on the merit of their initial submission.” He adds “We are all really looking forward to tasting the recipes at the regional finals. It is also most encouraging to see how many of the regional finalists have been past contestants determined to try again for success. “

Other contestants to win through are: Andrew Wilson from Ashdown Park; Paul Kavanagh of The Montague Arms; Henry Vigar from The Greenhouse; Pravin Sharma of the Courthouse Hotel Kempinski; Stephen Stevens of Plas Bodegroes Restaurant, Pwllheli; Andrew Parker of the Winckley Square Chop House, Preston; Andrew Hales of Paris House, Woburn; Elliott Moss, formerly of Entropy in Leicester but recently returned to the UK after studying abroad and last but by no means least, Lisa Allen of Northcote Manor.

From these, a final six will be selected to go through to the National Final, which takes place at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park at the end of March. The regional finals will be held concurrently at Birmingham College of Food and Thames Valley University Ealing on Thursday 2 March. In addition to cooking their duckling recipe, each contestant will be asked to prepare a dessert from a mystery box of ingredients, which is only given to them half an hour before the competition starts.

This year's judging panel is augmented by guest judge Heston Blumenthal who joins Albert and Michel Roux, chairman of the judges, their respective sons Michel Junior and Alain, Brian Turner, Gary Rhodes, David Nicholls and Andrew Fairlie.

There are prizes galore for the Roux Scholar, not only does he or she win the renowned three month stage at a 3-star Michelin establishment, plus £3,000 cash, courtesy of the Savoy Educational Trust, but they also receive a week’s paid work-experience in New York, courtesy of Restaurant Associates; an expenses paid trip including travel and overnight accommodation to visit the wine cellars of Champagne Gosset at Aÿ for a guided tour of the production process, a trip for two to visit the Caffé Musetti roasting factory in Milan and a set of Global Knives to the value of £1,000. The Scholar also becomes a member of the elite Roux Scholars Club, which meets on a regular basis, offers special privileges to members and forms a unique networking opportunity.

In addition to the usual prizes, each regional finalist will have the chance to win a pair of tickets to a UEFA Champions League Quarter Final match courtesy of MasterCard, and each national finalist wins a day’s butchery course, courtesy of Fairfax Meadow.

In addition to the aforementioned supporters, the Roux Scholarship is also kindly supported by a number of other companies including British Airways Inflight Service, Caterer & Hotelkeeper, L’Unico, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, Fairfax Meadows, MasterCard, Network Magazines, Historic Sussex Hotels and the Winterbourne Charitable Trust.

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For photographs of the competition, and prize giving, further information, or to arrange an interview, please contact Alison Jee on 020 8744 0744 or email roux@alisonjee.co.uk