Roux Scholarship

Karol Ploch has won The Roux Scholarship 2024. The 28-year-old Sous Chef from Kerridge’s Bar and Grill in London beat five other finalists in a highly challenging final cook-off held at the Alain Roux Culinary School at The Waterside Inn on Monday 8th April 2024. It was the first time Karol had entered The Roux Scholarship and he said on winning: “It’s an amazing feeling, but overwhelming too. It’s been an amazing day – all the finalists were very close to each other, all the dishes were very good. I’m just glad mine came out well. I’m excited for the future.” 2024 Roux Scholarship Winner Karol Ploch For this year’s final, the six chefs were asked to prepare their own dish centred around poached rainbow trout and Carlingford oysters, with a wide choice of other ingredients. At the start of the competition, the chefs were shown a table displaying dozens of ingredients that would allow them to interpret the brief as they chose. The chefs were asked to ‘tell a bold story composed of minimal yet impactful elements.’ Karol during the final at Cowarth Park Karol said: “I tried my best. I poached the trout in a champagne and oyster sauce with some blanched asparagus. The cook-off was stressful at the beginning but when I started cooking I focused on the jobs to do. It was three hours but it went very quickly; it’s best to just focus on yourself and work with your commis. The timings went well, everything was on point and I’m very glad it went this way.” The Winning Dish by Karol Michel Roux Jr said: “Everyone cooked to their potential and delivered the goods. We had some individuality in the cooking of the sauces and with the garnishes too. With the amazing produce we gave them we were a little surprised we didn’t see a bit more individuality. It was a very hearty debate to choose a winner and Chef Keller brought a lot to the discussion which was why we wanted him at the 40th anniversary. His wise words were taken on board.” Alain Roux said: “It felt fitting to hold the final at the birthplace of The Scholarship – my father’s former home, now the Culinary School. We have a very worthy winner and a great scholar and someone who will carry the torch for another 40 years.” In his role as Honorary Presidents of Judges, Thomas Keller led the judging panel alongside joint chairmen Alain and Michel Jr, who were joined by Vice-Chairman Brian Turner CBE, Sat Bains (1999 scholar), André Garrett MCA (2002 Scholar), James Martin, Clare Smyth MBE and Emily Roux. Chef Keller said: “Congratulations to this year’s Roux Scholarship winner, Karol Ploch from Kerridge’s Bar and Grill in London, and congratulations to all the talented competing chefs today. Your expertise, patience and commitment to your craft are evident. You should be extremely proud of the work you displayed today. Thank you to my fellow judges, it’s been an honour to participate in the 40th Anniversary of the Roux Scholarship – an incredible milestone for the UK’s young culinarians and a scholarship that has impacted generations.” The 2024 Roux Scholarship Winner Karol Ploch with Michel Roux Jnr, Thomas Keller and Alain Roux (left to right) Karol Ploch was competing against the following chefs: Harrison Brockington, Gather Restaurant; Ben Miller, Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal; Jordan Randerson, The Elephant, Torquay; Liam Smith, Restaurant Pine, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Evelina Stripeikyte, The Glenturret Lalique, Crieff.  From left to right: Ben Miller, Liam Smith, Evelina Stripeikyte, Karol Ploch, Harrison Brocklington, Jordan Randerson The winner was announced at an exclusive awards dinner at Coworth Park, where Roux Scholar 2012 Adam Smith MCA is the Executive Chef. In attendance was a small audience comprising the finalists’ guests, sponsors and judges, with the ceremony live-streamed via The Roux Scholarship website and YouTube channel. The winning chef receives £6,000, with an additional £6,000 awarded if they stay with their current employer for 15 additional months. They have the choice between two different star prizes: the invitation to cook and train under the supervision of a leading chef at a prestigious three-star Michelin restaurant anywhere in the world for up to two months; or a bespoke training programme tailored to the chef’s ambitions, skills gaps and interests. This is in addition to an impressive list of prizes and culinary experiences provided courtesy of our sponsors.

The 18 regional finalists for the 2023 Roux Scholarship competition have been announced, and with a truly diverse group of talented young chefs qualifying for the next round excitement is building ahead of the two regional finals which will be held simultaneously on Thursday 9th March at University College Birmingham and University of West London, Ealing. As main sponsors of the Roux Scholarship since its inception 40 years ago Global are immensely proud to continue our support the next generation of professional chef talent across the UK. Following a push for more diversity at the launch of this year’s competition, with the Round Table discussion and publication of the White Paper, Women Chefs and The Roux Scholarship, the Roux Family have been delighted to see an increase in applications from female chefs with four qualifying for the regional finals. The 18 chefs, and two reserves, were selected from their written recipes that used striploin of dry-aged beef, a beef offal ingredient and Belgian chicory. They were submitted anonymously to the judges, who took part in the Recipe Judging day at Roux at The Waterside Inn on 22nd February 2023. Competing in the Birmingham Regional Final are… Christopher Clarke, from Core by Clare Smyth, London Ruth Hansom, Swinton Estate, North Yorkshire Max Davies, Aizle, Edinburgh Steven Newton, Coast restaurant, Saundersfoot Alexander Rothnie, L’Enclume, Cartmel, Cumbria Dillon Smyth, Balloo Inns Limited, Comber From left to right: Christopher Clarke, Ruth Hansom, Steven Newton, Alexander Rothnie, Dillon Smyth Competing in the London Regional Final are… Aaron Blais, The Ritz, London Nicole Benham-Corlette, Boathouse 4 Restaurant, Portsmouth Jack Cannell, The Tytherleigh Arms, Axminster Ben Champkin, The Newt, Somerset Harry Donnelly, The RAF Club, London Oliver Dovey, Baxterstorey, London Sam Lomas, Glebe House, Devon Lucila Mattiauda, Seven Park Place by William Drabble, London Yogesh Singh Yadav, The May Fair, London April Lily Partridge, The Ledbury, London Ryan Porter, The Double Red Duke, Cotswolds Subhan Malik, The Beaumonth Hotel, London From left to right: Aaron Blais, Nicole Benham-Corlette, Jack Cannell, Ben Champkin, Harry Donnelly, Oliver Dovey From left to right: Sam Lomas, Lucila Mattiauda, Yogesh Singh Yadav, April Lily Partridge, Ryan Porter, Subhan Malik An impressive standard of talent For the regional final, competitors will have 2½ hrs to cook their dish, along with a dessert from a mystery box of ingredients given to them on the day.  The judges will be looking for recipes and methods, which demonstrate the best balance of creativity, taste, style and practicality in the finished dish. Commenting on this years finalists Michel Roux Jr expressed how: “The standard in general of this year’s entries was superb and it was great to read so many recipes that showed very imaginative ways of using offal.” Alain Roux added: “It’s great to see that our regional finalists come from all over the UK and a variety of different establishments. Regarding the recipes, I’m pleased to see so many chefs choose to cook the ox heart as part of their dishes, I really like that ingredient. In general, there was a really high standard and I can’t wait to taste everything.” Simon Hulstone is pleased to see more diversity in this years competition: “It’s great to see more female competitors in the list, some are ones that I’ve seen come through Future Chef competitions and so to see them now, getting into a competition of this stature, is fantastic. But also, it’s great to see some previous finalists that have come back from over the years to have another go and to see some new names and new establishments getting involved.” James Martin has also been impressed by the standard of recipes: “Speaking with the other judges, it was clear that there were certain recipes that really did stand out for all of us. And that’s great because we don’t know the name, we don’t know where they work. All we get given is a number, and it’s exciting to find out at the end, once they’re all chosen, who they all are.” I’m sure you’ll join us in wishing all the competitors the best of luck. With such a talented roster of young chefs we’re certainly excited to see more at the next stage of the competition. Of course anyone using GLOBAL Knives will have a competitive advantage even if we say so ourselves.