Celeriac received a welcome boost last week in helping Lincoln chef Mark Shakesby win National Restaurant Chef of the Year at Food Expo in Birmingham in a dramatic cook-off final.

Shakesby, chef at Brown’s Pie Shop in the city beat off 10 competing chefs using the local ingredients celeriac, sprouting broccoli, wild rabbit he had shot himself, and Lincoln Red beef. "I had rarely used celeriac before but I came up with an idea for a purée, I experimented the day before but it didn’t work out and on the competition day I had to improvise and it came out fantastically," said Shakesby. "I couldn’t stop eating it on stage."

The restaurant is supplied by Abbey Parks Farm Shop which sources its celeriac from Jack Buck Growers, the UK’s largest celeriac producer accounting for 80 per cent of the national crop. "I’m sure the restaurant will be using celeriac more now," said Shakesby.

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