Sweden's Jerome Calayag wins ticket to S.Pellegrino Young Chef competition final

Sweden's Jerome Calayag has been selected to represent the UK and northern Europe at the S.Pellegrino Young Chef competition final next year.

On Tuesday Calayag (pictured, second from right) emerged triumphant at the semi-final heat with his signature dish, ‘humble vegetables', winning the praise of judges.

He said: "I am very excited to represent the UK and North Europe in Milan next year at the global final of the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Competition. I've spent a lot of time preparing for this evening and I'm grateful for all the support I have received. I'm looking forward to seeing where this competition will take me next."

S.Pellegrino also awarded three supplementary prizes to reflect the quality of this years applicants. The Acqua Panna Award for Connection in Gastronomy, which recognises a dish representing diversity, was awarded to the UK's Timothee Martin-Nadaud (pictured, left) for ‘the world is your oyster'.

The Fine Dining Lovers Community Award was presented to Ireland's Nicolas Fagundes Galindo (second from left) for his dish flavors and textures of palm and ox tongue and the Award for Social Responsibility went to the UK's Pippa Lovell (pictured, right) for her dish ‘what she found'.

More than 2,400 applicants from around the world have entered the competition. The final will take place in Milan on 8-9 May 2020.