Local Chef Competes in Final of International Competition
STEVEN SHORT speaks to Marcus Clayton, the UK’s representative in a prestigious cooking competition in Milan.
“I saw a post on Instagram by Sat Bains inviting people to enter the competition, and I thought, why not give it a go?” remembers Marcus Clayton. That competition is the S. Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition Grand Finale, at which Marcus will represent the UK in October, having beaten nine other contenders. “I didn’t really realise at the time what a big deal it is – or how much work it would be,” he admits. For the competition Marcus will be preparing his signature ‘Celeriac, Apple and Mushroom’ dish that will showcase his love of vegetables and interest in sustainability and cooking with minimal waste.
Marcus grew up around Crowborough and has lived in Broad Oak and Rye for two decades. He studied his craft at Hastings College. After some time out in France “I wasn’t really taking cooking too seriously and wanted to do a ski season,” he realised he wanted to get properly into cooking and went on to work at The Mermaid in Rye and Thackeray’s in Tunbridge Wells. But it was while working with Will Devlin at The Small Holding in Kent that Marcus developed an interest in and love for ‘farm-to-fork’ and sustainable cooking that now define his style. “We had a half acre of land and used to grow all our fruit and veg. We also had some pigs that we were rearing, as well as a few lambs and chickens for eggs. It was here that I really learned not to waste anything, to always see what you can do with by-products, not just throw things away.”
The chef is about to relocate to Cambridge to work alongside Alex Rushmer at the acclaimed, plant-focused Vanderlyle (which currently has a pop-up season at The Sleeper Store in St Leonards.)
Marcus has been working on the dish that he will present at the competition over recent weeks (though it’s been a favourite over the years, and like all his dishes is designed to show how delicious vegetables can be), tweaking, refining, thinking of other ways to use every one of his chosen ingredients, “I’ve done at least 10 variations, road-testing them on my partner and family,” and will soon be mentored by Michelin-starred chef, Lisa Goodwin-Allen, to further refine it and get him ready for the competition, which takes place on 4-5 October.
sanpellegrinoyoungchefacademy.com/
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