Crooke fought off competition from four other Barceló Apprentice Chef Academy (BACA) graduates in a final cook off held recently at the Barceló The Lygon Arms Hotel in the Cotswolds. The competitors were required to create two dishes from a mystery basket of ingredients. Crooke impressed the judges with a combination of 'roast apple and parsnip soup' followed by 'cushion of lamb with confit garlic and caramelised cauliflower puree'. Crooke, who is currently commis chef at the Barceló Walton Hall & Hotel, said: "I am delighted to have been chosen as the 2011 Barceló Apprentice Chef of the year – it is such a huge honour. I am passionate about food and I put a lot of time and effort into my menus for this competition so it is great to see all of my hard work finally pay off. "I would like to thank my mentors, Head Chef, Darren Long and Sous Chef, Ben Tynan, at the Barceló Walton Hall & Hotel for all their help and support over the last year. I couldn't have done this without them." Barceló UK regional director, Peter Montague, added: "We are all very proud of Marcus and the four other BACA graduates. Marcus was highly commended by the judges for this creativity and confidence in the kitchen. The competition was really tough this year and we were all impressed with the high calibre of dishes that the contestants produced." As a result of Crooke's hard work he has been awarded with a week's worth of work experience at the Barceló Asia Gardens Hotel in Spain as well as a set of professional Global Chefs knives. The other graduates were all awarded with a set of Alliance knives, a copy of 'Practical Cookery' from Barceló UK's training provider, Babcock Training, as well as a chef's jacket. This years competition was judged by; Peter Manner, head chef at the Barceló the Lygon Arms Hotel; Kevin MacGillivray, head chef at the Barceló Troon Marine Hotel; Darren Long, head chef at the Barceló Walton Hall hotel and Stewart McAleese, group environmental, health and safety manager.