Mohan Miah of the Bengal Brassiere, Nether Poppleton, has scooped top prize in the first-ever City of York Curry Chef of the Year final held today (Friday, July 12).

The competition, organised by City of York Council, was staged this afternoon at the Nestle conference centre at Haxby Road with judges Stuart Gray-Cowan, an army civil servant, York College hospitality tutor David Box and Nestle's Graham Stewart left highly impressed by the quality of all the dishes.

At the end everyone was left sweating over the result of the close contest but Mohan's entry, featuring Bengal spice, vegetable bhaji and basmati rice, was judged to be the best on the day and Councillor Derek Smallwood, the council's executive member for planning and the environment, was delighted to present him with a cheque for £100 and a cup.

York MP Hugh Bayley opened today's tournament which was watched by national officials from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health which runs the national competition.

The competition - the only one of its kind in the whole of Yorkshire this year - was launched in May. It was open to chefs in all of York's 40-odd Asian restaurants and take-aways and attracted 25 entries - the highest in the country.

The runners up at today's final, who all also received cups, were Johir Uddihammed of Akash restaurant at North Street; Saleam Akhtar of the Jinnah Group, Micklegate; Arjad Miah of Jaipur Spice at Haxby Road and Golam Chowdhury, also of Jaipur Spice, Haxby Road.

Each chef was asked to prepare a main, side and bread or rice dish which was scored for taste, texture, aroma, culinary skills, originality and presentation.

Councillor Smallwood said, "The enthusiasm for this event has been tremendous and I know that choosing the winner was a real tough call for our judges. However, I hope it will spur on everyone for next year's contest.

"It has been a fantastic event and has really cemented the relationship our food safety team has developed with the city's Asian restaurant and take-away trade."

Mohan will now go into the regional final at Middlesbrough College, Roman Road, Middlesbrough on August 19 (1pm). The 2002 National Curry Chef Grand Final will be held in September 2002, at the Harrogate International Centre. The event forms part of the CIEH Annual Environmental Health Conference and Exhibition.

END