A young chef from Porthleven emerged victorious after going head to head with his peers in the finals of Cornwall's Next Head Chef competition.

After a heated day in the kitchens of Truro College, Joe Fallowfield, of The Square in Porthleven, was named the winner of the contest, seeing off the three other finalists. After seeing and tasting all the dishes presented to them, the judges made the unanimous decision in favour of Joe, who came second in the competition last year and wanted to come back to prove to the judges he had improved and taken on their advice.

Each chef had been given five hours to create a three-course menu within a cost budget of £15 per head.

Joe said: “The competition is a great way to cook under pressure and learn new things. It is a great platform for young chefs to further their career and I hope I can go on to be as successful as the previous two winners of Cornwall’s Next Head Chef have been.

“I came into the competition feeling a lot more confident, and I think this help me throughout the process. I had taken on board the judges’ comments from last year, feeling determined to win after coming so close before and I am delighted to be given another chance to gain the title.”

Ben Stevens, business development manager of Delicate Trade and organiser of the event, said: “The interest in this year’s event has been great and the competition has uncovered some great talent. We had some younger chefs taking part which is fantastic to see, it’s what this competition is all about – finding young chefs with promise and providing them with a platform to develop their skills and experience. I am delighted that Joe came back this year to try again, and his attitude towards his cooking has improved tremendously, resulting in him winning this year’s title.”

One of he judges, Nick Hemming, catering and development manager at St Austell Brewery, said: “Joe has really improved from last year. He took on all of our comments and came back with the hunger to win which really showed in his final dishes. The competition has unearthed some really promising young chefs, we’ve seen all the contestants really pushing themselves throughout the competition to create and produce some good quality dishes."

As well as gaining the title as Cornwall’s Next Head Chef, Joe won the chance to run the Trevenson Restaurant in Camborne along with £200 of knife vouchers donated from Major Produce.