A care home chef has made it into the finals of a UK competition with his £4.50 salmon dish.
Darren Nelson, who works at Trymview Hall in Westbury-on-Trym in Bristol, hopes to be crowned Care Home Chef of the Year at a national competition on 14 October in Loughborough.
He said cooking for residents takes a lot of skill as the dishes need to cater for varying dietary requirements, be high in nutrition and low budget.
Nelson is one of 12 chefs to make it to the NACC Care Chef of the Year 2026 finals after a panel of judges voted for his dish during an earlier stage.
He said both he and the residents were excited that he was through to the finals of the contest which is billed as the UK’s longest-standing competition for chefs working in the care sector.
“It pushes me and it’s nice to see what everybody else is doing as well,” he said.
For the final, he will be cooking salmon in a soy glaze with sweet potato and broccoli followed by a deconstructed Black Forest Gateau.
He will have 90 minutes to produce the meal at a cost of £4.50.