Runners up were Daniel Bland of The Wheatsheaf Inn, Doddington, and Jonathan Cook of Greywall’s Hotel in Edinburgh in the final held at The Cook School Scotland in Ayrshire.

The competition, organised by Braehead Foods in association with Staff Canteen and Highland Game, is now in its third year and had a record number of entries from across the UK. Chefs were required to submit two fresh and innovative game based dishes, one starter and one main course.

The 10 finalists each received £100 and had the chance to prepare, cook and present their dishes to the judges, which included renowned chef Tom Kitchin, Braehead’s executive chef Joe Queen, and Ian McAndrew from the Academy of Culinary Arts.

Van Zeller’s winning dishes were wigeon with celeriac remoulade, apple and hazelnut, followed by loin of hare with choucroute, baby turnips and beetroot.

His prize is a trip to Sweden where he will hunt wild boar, courtesy of Highland Game. Runners up Bland and Cook have won the chance to enjoy a deerstalking trip on a Highland Estate.

Queen commented: “The standard this year was really high and there were some fantastic dishes produced by all of the finalists. There were only a few points between the winning dishes and runners up but Tom edged ahead with his flavours, consistency, and balance of his dishes which were both executed superbly.”