Ten restaurants prepare to face the heat and compete for their place in the finals of Merton’s Curry Chef Competition 2008.

The free competition, sponsored by the Niru Europe, is open to all registered Indian restaurant/takeaway food businesses within the borough giving local chefs the opportunity to display their culinary skills at the competition finale on Monday 27 October at Merton College.

The restaurants must qualify in the preliminary hygiene audit where unexpected checks on cleaning, food preparation and storage of foods will be carried out. The highest scoring restaurants from the hygiene audits will compete in the cooking final. Each chef will develop three dishes: one main curry dish, one complementary side dish and one bread or rice dish. Participants will be judged and assessed on food hygiene, food safety, taste and presentation of their dishes.

The winner will be awarded the title Merton Curry Chef 2008, a trophy and a prize. All finalists will be presented with a certificate.

Merton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Cllr Diane Neil Mills said:
“This is a great way to spread the word about the importance of good food hygiene as well as to promote the well prepared and well flavoured food produced by many of our local restaurants. Merton is committed to putting the needs and health of its residents first and competitions such as this make sure we do just that.”