Interview: Dimitar Angelkovski, young chef of the year

Not that we're claiming any similarity with the young Dimitar Angelkovski, a chef at Turnberry. Although, since he's about to cook with Heston Blumenthal, the use of flame-throwers and the inclusion of the likes of snail porridge and bacon ice-cream might not be too much of a stretch.

In his perfect English (not a “bork, bork, bork" in earshot), Angelkovski describes growing up in the small town of Orebro, between Stockholm and Gothenburg, where he never dreamed that one day he'd be cooking with Blumenthal, one of his culinary heroes along with Albert and Michel Roux. But that's exactly what he's about to do, having won the Young Chef of the Year award at the Academy of Culinary Arts (ACA) Annual Awards of Excellence 2011, held at Claridge’s, London. His prize was work experience with his hero at the legendary Fat Duck, in Bray.

Fighting off competition from ten other chefs, hailing from esteemed restaurants such as Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, the London Ritz and Claridge’s, the talented 22-year-old Swede wowed them with a winning menu that included “a starter with razor clams, a hot niçoise salad, then a main course of venison Wellington with potatoes and glazed carrots, celeriac and stuffed cabbage, followed by a modern lemon meringue pie”.

Put on the spot about why he may have beaten off the opposition to win the coveted title, Angelkovski is modest. “I'm not sure why I won. They said I did really well on the day. There were a lot of good chefs there, but I had practised my dishes an awful lot at Turnberry, where they are really looking after me and giving me a good training."

Indeed, Angelkovski isn't the only talented young menumeister at Turnberry kitchen, where head chefs encourage a culture of entering competitions. Sous chef Ryan Murphy was also a finalist in the awards.

Angelkovski arrived at the five-star hotel on a three-month internship from a Swedish catering college, and liked it so much that he was keen to come back. The attraction was mutual and a similarly impressed Turnberry offered the young Swede a job. “I liked Scotland. It reminded me of Sweden because the weather is the same – cold and fresh – and I also enjoyed the company of the people at Turnberry.

“I was working really hard and fell in love with it, so when I went home I wanted this job so much. There's a really strong team spirit and the way everybody gets on is like one big family. Nobody lets anyone else down and we always work hard together," he says.

Happy to build on his experience at the moment, Angelkovski can't see himself returning to Sweden any time soon, especially since he now has a Turnberry-based fiancée. “I don't think I will go back to Sweden for a while anyway. I want to see a little bit more of the world. Maybe in future I could work in a restaurant because up until now it has always been hotels."

Angelkovski won't have to wait long to do a bit of globe-trotting, since – along with the Blumenthal experience – his Young Chef of the Year prize includes a trip to Mexico, a jaunt to the famous G H Mumm and Company's champagne house in Reims, plus a set of Victorinox chef knives and Raymond Blanc Collection pans. Alas, no flame-thrower, however. “The prize was all job-related but the best bit is the Heston Blumenthal experience. To work with him will be amazing. I love the way he comes up with things and plays around with food in an experimental way. It'll be interesting to see how he does it."

And has Angelkovski succeeded in getting any Swedish dishes on to the menu at Turnberry? “Well, gravadlax is there – that's Swedish. And obviously I can do meatballs. But both of my parents are from Macedonia, so I can do a lot of Greek cooking such as bean ragout and stews too."

So Greek, Swedish, Scottish or French, whatever the style of cooking or language of the kitchen, the multi-lingual Angelkovski sees the common denominator as a simple love of cooking. “It's about having the passion to work with food and the drive to push myself to become better every day."

So we shouldn't be too surprised if snail porridge sneaks on to the Turnberry menu some time soon. What is the Swedish for snail porridge?

Janet Christie