To qualify for entry you must be working or have access to a professional kitchen and commercial dining room and/or be a chef, apprentice, student or trainee in professional cookery with no more than four years of professional cookery experience.
You need to submit a two-course menu and detailed costed recipes for a main course and a starter or a dessert.
The main ingredients need to be based on Borders local, seasonal produce.
Your menu should be written up in the way you would present it to potential guests. You therefore need to consider how to communicate to guests in a way that makes them want to buy your dishes.
Your whole menu cannot exceed £4.50 in total cost. You need to calculate a price for each of your dishes that give you a 70 per cent gross profit.
Your dishes should be put on the menu at your place of work and be sold to real customers. Your line manager can set a sales price for the dishes that they find suitable. The customers will be part of voting for your dish. You will be issued with a voting form.
The voting will take place over a set period of time. You will be informed about this period by the judges.
The first step is an interview, where you will be able to meet all the other contestants. This will take place in a central location in the Borders.
Throughout the eliminations you will be asked to come up with new dishes, make changes to your initial menu and also to take part in a team cook-off session and participation in the Selkirk “Plant to Plate” food festival on September 2. The teams will be judged by a visiting celebrity chef.
The final winner will be announced through a final cook-off by the finalists at the Peebles Food Festival on October 28. Visiting Michelin star celebrity chefs will take part in judging the finals.
Good luck!