Gordon at The Good Food Show

See the UK's hottest young chefs in action at The BBC Good Food Show Birmingham, and witness the birth of a future star of the Gordon Ramsay empire, before everyone else does.

Pouring sugar into a pan If you're coming to the BBC Good Food Show Birmingham this year, amidst the shoppers and stallholders you may spot some nervous-looking young people in whites. They'll be sharpening their knives, perfecting their pastry and holding their breath to see if their soufflés rise. These are some of the UK's hottest up-and-coming chefs, and they'll be battling it out to win The Gordon Ramsay Scholar Award.

The scholarship

There are three prizes up for grabs: the coveted Gordon Ramsay Scholar title; the Gordon Ramsay College Scholar, for student chefs; and a runner-up position.

Gordon making pastry You can watch the 32 pros and 8 students in action as they fight it out cooking a 2-course menu in the heats from Wednesday to Friday, judged by top chefs including Angela Hartnett and Gordon's right-hand man, Mark Askew. In the big final on Saturday 29 November, the chefs will put their creativity to the test with a main course invented on the spot from selected ingredients. The chef crowned Gordon Ramsay Scholar will then cook live on stage with the big man himself on Sunday.

The chef crowned Gordon Ramsay Scholar will cook live on stage with the big man himself on Sunday

But it doesn't end there - the prize also includes the opportunity to take up door-opening work placements at Gordon's highly revered signature restaurants, plus the Gordon Ramsay Scholar will drive off in a brand new car, their wallet bulging with £5,000 prize money. Jamie Raftery, the current incumbent, describes winning the scholarship as "the most thrilling, exciting and rewarding time of my career so far".

Gordon Ramsay To find out more, visit www.gordonramsay.com, where you can also download an application form and put yourself forward for the scholarship, until 10 October 2008.

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Try the step-by-step recipes in our new Gordon Ramsay collection.

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