Kimberley Court care home Chef reaches finals of Chef of the Year competition

A chef from a care home in Newquay has beaten off rivals to secure a place in the finals of a national catering competition.

Phil Cartmel, 56, who has worked at Kimberley Court care home in Kimberley Close for 18 months, said he was thrilled to be among the top chefs in Anchor’s Chef of the Year award.

Chef Manager Phil will now face seven finalists from Anchor care homes across the country to see who gains the top place in the competition.

Each finalist will have two hours at the Grand Final on 5 September to prepare a fortified snack, which is packed with nutritious ingredients which help maintain residents’ healthy weights, and a two-course meal.

The menu Phil will be making for the final will be: Baileys Tiramisu as the fortified snack, while the main course will be pan-fried mackerel on peperonata and baby potato with a beetroot and blood orange salsa, with sticky toffee pudding with salted caramel sauce and Cornish clotted cream for dessert.

He said: “I wanted to prepare a dish for the final that truly reflected life in Cornwall this time of year. The county has a very Mediterranean feel to it in summer so I chose mackerel which is abundant off the Cornish coast and the mixture of peppers and tomatoes adds a sweet surprise to the dish."

“I wanted to see what the residents thought of my menu so I held a sampling session and they all loved the dishes.

“I’m excited about getting through to the final as this is the first time I’ve entered this competition. In my 30 years in the catering sector, I’ve entered many competitions but that’s when I was younger and quicker!

“The residents look forward to their mealtimes so I go into work wanting to make the best meals for them. There’s lots of variety and the dishes are very tasty so mealtimes are an exciting occasion for them.”

Competition judge and organiser Richard Herne, Anchor’s Catering Manager, said: “The Chef of the Year competition is highly competitive as the top chefs from Anchor’s 114 care homes fight it out to gain this prestigious title.

“Meals are an important milestone in the lives of our residents so making sure that we continually improve our standards is essential. The Chef of the Year helps with that as it’s an opportunity for our chefs to share ideas and recipes."

“Encouraging residents to eat a wholesome and seasonal diet which they enjoy helps them lead happy and healthy lives.”

For more information about food in Anchor’s care homes, visit www.anchor.org.uk