A LUDGERSHALL man will soon join other top chefs from across the UK as they converge for the regional finals of this year’s Roux Scholarship competition.

The Roux Scholarship, chaired by cousins Alain Roux and Michel Albert Roux, was founded in 1983 by the well-known chefs Michel Roux and his brother Albert Roux, who together founded The Waterside Inn in Bray and Le Gavroche in London.

This year, Max Davies, 25, who was born in Salisbury and spent his early years in Ludgershall, will be one of six regional finalists competing in Birmingham on Thursday, March 9, while another 12 chefs will be competing in the London regional finals simultaneously.

Max said: “It’s a competition I’ve followed for a long time and I have great respect for it, because it’s like the best of the best of the best.”

Max first became interested in cooking as a child around the age of 10.

He said: “I was more into the pastry side of it when I first started. So I was very interested in all the patisseries and things like that; just making bread at home and things like that. Then a few years later I had the opportunity to go to college, really enjoyed it and got my first job in a professional kitchen.”

Max moved from Ludgershall to Rhos-on-Sea in North Wales as a child. He got his first job as a chef at the age of 17 at the St George’s Hotel in Llandudno. He now works at Aizle in Edinburgh.

SEE ALSO: £60k worth of items stolen from Dinghams Direct in Churchfields

Max said this is the first time he has ever participated in a national chefs’ competition, although the owner of Aizle, Stuart Ralston, has provided a lot of advice about competing, as Stuart has appeared in series 16 and 17 of Great British Menu.

Preparation is key, so during a month-long holiday in January, Max dove head-first into readying himself for the competition. In November, the competition sent the three ingredients to be used in the first round- beef strip loin, beef offal and Belgian chicory.

Max said: “It was all I was doing. I was doing my research, testing the dish so many times, getting people’s opinion. Yeah, I’m confident but now actually getting down there and being in the kitchen, it’ll be exciting.”

The winner of The Roux Scholarship will have the choice between a two-month training programme under the supervision of a top chef at a three-star Michelin restaurant anywhere in the world, or a bespoke training programme to gain new skills.