It has also allowed more chefs the opportunity to enter the UK’s most prestigious culinary competition by extending its deadline for entries to Monday, 6th June. Simply being part of NCOTY, whatever stage a chef gets to, provides opportunities to open new doors, develop a chef’s skills and raise profiles through an extensive PR and marketing campaign.

Continental Chef Supplies (CCS) has revealed it will be treating this year’s winner to an exclusive London and South West England chef experience including Michelin starred restaurants, special chef masterclasses and artisan food tours.

Knorr Professional will be offering the winner £2,500 to help with their own career development. This could provide a chef with exciting opportunities such as global stagiaires and in the past has seen winners get to cook at some of the world’s best restaurants.

The winner will also enjoy a series of immersive culinary dining experiences across the UK with well-known Michelin-starred establishments. More of the prizes will be revealed as the competition unfolds thanks to the impressive list of sponsors who are all keen to support the winner’s development and provide memorable culinary opportunities.

Chefs can register to be part of the event on the National Chef of the Year website at https://nationalchefoftheyear.co.uk. Once they have created an account, chefs can keep working on their entry until midnight on 6th June.

Competitors have been tasked with producing a three-course celebration menu. The starter may be a fish, seafood or vegetarian dish worthy of this special occasion and judges will focus on the sourcing, provenance and sustainability of the ingredients used.

For the main course, chefs should use British or Irish venison and incorporate more than one element whether offal, a secondary cut or prime cut. For the final course, the brief has been left wide open and is simply a warm or cold dessert for a grand finale which provides balance to the menu and has a clear wow factor.

David Mulcahy, vice-president of the Craft Guild of Chefs, said: “It’s a big year for the industry as we reflect on a competition that is steeped in half a century of heritage, culinary talent and respect. We’re pulling out all the stops to make this year one to remember with an inspiring brief, incredible panel of judges and once in a lifetime prizes. Not forgetting the extraordinary celebration event for the winner’s announcement that is already being worked on behind the scenes.

“As chefs ourselves we understand how busy everyone is, especially with staff shortages, but we also know that this is an opportunity no ambitious chef should miss which is why we are giving more time to enter. So, check out the brief and start putting pen to paper as whatever stage of the competition you get to, we know you’ll thrive and grow every step of the way.”

NCOTY would not be possible without its sponsors which for this year includes Boiron, CCS, Churchill, KNORR, Ritter Courivaud and Valrhona.