Crunch time! Fancy yourself as a hot young chef?

The search for Meath's best home cook has begun with the launch of a brand new competition from Le Crunch French Apples. Following their hugely successful Apple of My Eye song contest, Le Crunch has now put a call out to Meath's public to discover the next generation of budding young culinary talents, and there’s a trip to Paris worth €3,000 for the winner!

The Le Crunch Search for Ireland’s Best Home Cook will run in association with Her.ie over the coming weeks, as judges strive to find the finest original recipe the public has to offer using apples as one of its ingredients. Secret recipes, family classics and modern twists on traditional dishes are all welcome as Le Crunch seeks to find Ireland’s most imaginative and creative new chefs.

One of Ireland’s best young chefs, Adrian Martin from Cavan, will be joined by Gillian Fitzpatrick, chief operating officer at Maximum Media, to appraise the entries to select 12 finalists for a cook-off showdown that will take place on 16th March at Dublin’s Cooks Academy. Starting at the age of 14, Adrian  trained in some of Ireland's most renowned restaurants including Mac Nean House and Bon Appetit, Malahide, and is set to open his own restaurant at the exclusive Sliabh Russell Hotel in Cavan this March.

“I’m looking forward to being on board to judge the finalists of the Le Crunch Search for Ireland’s Best Home Cook,” says  Adrian. “It’s quite a tricky one to think outside the box with, so lets see how creative people can get with apple as a core ingredient of their dish.”

The competition is open to everyone from 16 years old upwards and features a great prize of a foodie holiday to Paris. The contest may be of particular interest to Home Economics students and creative young gastronomes looking to push their potential as far as they can go.

"Le Crunch is delighted to return in 2019 with a brand new competition that combines two of our favourite things - apples and cooking," says Sandrine Gaborieau, Marketing Director of Le Crunch from France. 

"Our Apple of My Eye competition has had great success over the last number of years, finding some of the best upcoming Irish musicians, and now with the Le Crunch Search for Ireland’s Best Home Cook, we hope to discover some of the best young chefs that Ireland has to offer. We're looking forward to receiving some delicious recipes from the public over the coming weeks and perhaps most of all, trying them out!”

Entrants to the Le Crunch Search for Ireland’s Best Home Cook should go to her.ie where they will find details on how to enter the competition which has a cut off date for entries of Sunday 17th February.

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