Last week, James was asked to join the judging panel at the Young Fish Frier of the Year award, one of the biggest events in the fish and chip industry’s calendar.
The award
The Young Fish Frier of the Year award was established in 1995 by the directors of Dyrwite Limited, in memory of their dad, a man who truly believed in the industry’s young talent. Since then, it’s gone on to highlight the work achieved by young friers, with many of the competition’s past winners and finalists really making a difference.
The way it works
The competition calls for talented friers, under the age of 25, to enter the competition. The competition begins with one round, where friers are asked to complete a written questionnaire. The people who make it past the first round, then get to enter the second round, where they partake in a telephone interview with one of the competition’s judges. After this, the semi finalists are then chosen and asked to present a practical demonstration, with the best in that round making it to the final. All of the finalists are then invited to London where they find out who’s won the title prize.
James’ role
It was James’ first time on any kind of judging panel, and he loved having the shoe on the other foot for a change. Since James has been in the trade, he’s had several years of experience being judged by the pros – so it was now his turn! 10 semi finalists took part in the practical over two days and James was very impressed at the standard of these young fish friers. James’ role as a judge was to observe the frying skills and the quality of the food, including: preparation, presentation and finally the proposal for a media/PR plan. Once the judges had collected the scores, they were able to decide on the five finalists, who will be going to the final in January.
The final
James will be there at the final to cheer on the young friers, and congratulate the winner. Until then, we want to wish all of the finalists lots of luck, and a big congratulations to all ten of the runners up – you did brilliantly!
Are you a young fish frier? Learn how you can apply next year, here.
