Shauna Murphy, of Terre Restaurant in Castlemartyr Resort in Cork, has been named Euro-Toques Ireland Best Young Chef 2023.
The prestigious competition for professional chefs under the age of 28 wrapped up after a six month judging process on Sunday at a gala dinner held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Dublin.
Earlier in the day, the final judging session was held in Dublin Cookery School in Blackrock, with candidates asked to devise two original dishes: a main course featuring Irish brown crab and lobster and an original starter or dessert using Velvet Cloud yoghurt.
Murphy, who was mentored by chef Angelo Vagiotis, won the competition with a main course of barbecued lobster with vanilla brown butter bisque reduction and citrus carrot purée, served with a side of barley with lemon grass foam and crispy carrot and a dessert of date pudding with Velvet Cloud sheep yoghurt ice cream, burnt apple, hazelnuts and whiskey caramel.
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Speaking at the event, she said: “I’m over the moon. It’s beyond anything that I could have imagined. Just being in the final was enough, never mind winning, but I’m very, very grateful.
“I didn’t believe it. I’m speechless still.”
Murphy had entered the competition last year and said she was a “lot more calm” this time round and felt “more part of the community as well”.
She plans on staying at Terre for the moment, as she said there is plenty of room for her to grow but, down the line, she’d like to open her own restaurant.
Vagiotis said: “It doesn’t sound very humble but I always knew [she was going to win] because of the work she put in. She worked really hard.
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“I didn’t interfere much with what she wanted to do. I didn’t want to put my personality [forward]. I wanted her personality to shine, her personality of cooking, and it worked.
“She did it with style and with swag. I am very proud of her.”
Among other finalists in the Euro-Toques Young Chef of the Year competition, presented by La Rousse Foods, were Adam Walsh (1826 Adare), Conor Morrissey (Glovers Alley), Leticia Miranda (Mae Restaurant), Marcell Palfalusi (Thyme Restaurant) and Matthias Beuque (Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud).
Each candidate cooked in front of five judges, including chefs Paolo Casagrande of three-Michelin star Lasarte in Barcelona, Anna Haugh of Myrtle in London, Ahmet Dede of two-Michelin star dede in Baltimore, Co Cork, Gareth Mullins of Forbes Street at Anantara The Marker, Dublin, and Euro-Toques commissioner general, Kwanghi Chan.
The kitchen was run by judges Domini Kemp (Valence Hospitality), Conor Halpenny (The Square) and Aishling Moore (Goldie).
The chefs had two and a half hours to create their dishes and were marked under three separate categories: execution and work practice, taste and flavour and presentation.
Gareth Mullins, who is also head of the Young Chef committee, said: “The objective of the community is to foster young talent while preserving Irish culinary heritage. The Young Chef competition is the highest-calibre contest for professional young chefs in Ireland and seeing another successful year come full circle with a worthy winner is a great achievement for the organisation.”
