Ruth Hansom Heats up the Roux Scholarship 2022

There hasn’t been a female winner of The Roux Scholarship since Irish chef Mercy Fenton won in 1994. Over the years there have been plenty of female chef entrants but not one who had such an opportunity as Ruth Hansom this year.

Hansom is head chef of her own kitchen, The Princess of Shoreditch, so she can take the time to enter and compete and practice her craft. But, it goes deeper than that. Hanson trained at The Ritz under John Williams and is no stranger to the classical cuisine that underpins the Roux Scholarship.

There’s no question that the competition is a tough gig for any chef. The competition starts with a paper round and then 18 semi finalists cook their entry at two colleges: UCB in Birmingham and University of West London in Ealing. The judging is exact and punishing which is why only certain kitchens tend to put forward entrants.

Entrants were down this year with many establishments unable to complete entries due to staff and time shortages. The key elements of the requested dish were Dover sole either on or off the bone, brown shrimps and homemade pasta as one of the garnishes.

So, a fascinating heat will take place on the 24th March with the chefs below battling it out for the eight places in the final, which takes place on the 11th April at Westminster Kingsway College.

The semi-finalists

• Luke Ahearne, Corrigan Collection, London
• Harry Donnelly, The RAF Club, London
• Oliver Dovey, Baxterstorey, London
• Luke Emmess, The Wykeham Arms, Winchester
• Nicholas Paul Fitzgerald, Nico Fitzgerald Restaurants, London
• Ruth Hansom, The Princess of Shoreditch, London
• Yiannis Mexis, Hide, London
• Kamil Novak, The Dysart Petersham, Surrey
• George Ormond, Murano, London
• Liam Pride, Trinity Restaurant, Cambridge
• Christos Sidiropoulos, Flemings Mayfair Hotel, London
• George Whitelock, Angler Restaurant, London
• Kieran Bradley, The Vineyard Hotel Stockcross, Newbury
• Michael Chwu, The Kitchin, Leith, Edinburgh
• Jonathan Ferguson, The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant, Crieff, Scotland
• Jake Hassall, Restaurant Martin Wishart, Edinburgh
• Steven Newton, Coast Restaurant, Pembrokeshire
• Adam Pitfield, Driftwood Hotel, Porscatho, Cornwall