The finalists are:
Adam Rasburn, The Design House Restaurant, Huddersfield
Andrew Laycock, Wild Thyme, Perthshire
Brian Mcleish, Moonfish Café, Ellon, Aberdeenshire
Daniel Bland, Wheatsheaf, Doddington
James Foster, Loch Lomond Golf Club, Alexandria
John Traynor, The Finnieston, Glasgow
John Watson, Craig Millar @ 16 West End, Anstruther
Jonathan Cook, Greywall’s Hotel, Edinburgh
Stuart Galloway, Sheraton Grand Hotel, Edinburgh
Tom Van Zeller, Van Zeller Restaurants, Harrogate

The nationwide search to find the best professional game chef in the UK was launched in September, when applicants were required to submit recipes for two fresh and innovative game-based dishes, one starter and one main, to be judged.

The finalists will each receive £100 and will take part in a cook-off at The Cook School Scotland in Kilmarnock on January 27, where they will have to prepare, cook and present their dishes to a panel of judges, which includes Michelin-starred restaurant chefs Tom Kitchin and Martin Wishart, plus Joe Queen, executive chef at Braehead Foods, and Ian McAndrew from the Academy of Culinary Arts.

The overall winner will receive a prize of a trip to Sweden, where they will hunt wild boar, courtesy of Highland Game. Second and third placed chefs will get the chance to enjoy a deer-stalking trip on a Highland Estate.