County Derry Chef Makes It Through To Final Of The Roux Scholarship

A COUNTY-Derry born chef has proved that he has the recipe for success after making in through to the final of a world prestigious competition.

- Caoimhe Hegarty

On Thursday, 24 year-old Ryan Porter, from Upper lands, made it through to the final of The Roux Scholarship, a premier competition for chefs, despite only taking up cooking as a career just three years ago.

Ryan, who is the youngest contestant in this year’s competition, believes that the most important ingredient to his successful recipe is believing in yourself.

Ryan moved to England last year to follow his dream and now works in the Michelin starred restaurant at Northcote, a luxury country house hotel in Lancashire.

Catching up with The County Derry Post following Thursday’s regional final in Birmingham, Ryan said: “I was nervous when I started cooking but I kept my head down and kept believing in myself. I think that if you believe in yourself, you can do anything,”

Prior to the competition, Ryan had been given a list of ingredients to use which included seabream, shellfish and green globe artichokes.