A LANGHO man is determined to book a place in the final of a battle to find Britain’s best young chef — despite thinking he is a ‘huge underdog’.

Ryan Porter, who works at Northcote and lives in Whalley, will be flying the flag for Lancashire at The Roux Scholarship regional final.

The 24-year-old has been putting in extra hours of training at the Ribble Valley restaurant to try and prepare a dish that will see him land a spot at the final at Westminster Kingsway College in London.

But first he must impress a host of top chefs and judges — chairman Alain Roux, Brian Turner CBE, from Ready, Steady, Cook and James Martin, from Saturday Kitchen, This Morning and Saturday Morning with James Martin — at the contest in Birmingham on Thursday.

Ryan, from Derry in Northern Ireland, said: “I did not think I would get this far and I see it as a real achievement.

“I really want to get through to the final and win it.

“But I am going in as an underdog and am very happy because there is no pressure on me as much as the other guys and I will do the best dishes I can.”

Ryan believes he is an ‘underdog’ in the competition due to the standard of his rivals.

The chefs he will face in the semi-final are Aaron Lawrence, from Gilpin Lodge, Cumbria; Samuel Nash, L’Enclume, Cumbria; Daniel Parker, House of Tides, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Kelvin Tan, Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham and Ricki Weston, also from Restaurant Sat Bains.

To make it to this stage in the competition, Ryan had to submit an application which he admits he was on the last minute completing.

He said: “The entry event was in November and then you have to work with costs and research creating dishes.

“The deadline was January and I was not going to do it but then I got a call from one of the Roux spokesmen and he told me to get an entry in.”

Ryan has been in Lancashire for a year and before that worked for Aiden Byrne in Manchester for eight months.

He did not want to give away too many secrets for the semi-final dish but revealed it would include sea bream, mussels, green artichokes and a garnish.

He said: “The judges seem to like classical food so that is what I am going to be doing in the semi-final. It will be very basic but very, very tasty.

“I have worked under Lisa (Goodwin-Allen) at Northcote and she has been great for me and I have learned a lot from her. She has made me better than I was last year.”

The Roux Scholarship has been running for more than 30 years and many participants have gone on to be recognised internationally.

n To find out more information about the competition visit: www.rouxscholarship.co.uk.