A talented Sanctuary Care chef has triumphed in a prestigious cookery competition, winning a place in the national final.

Yesterday Mark Ord, head chef at Sanctuary Care’s state-of-the-art Wantage Nursing Home in Oxfordshire, went head to head with three other chefs in the south east regional final of the National Association of Care Catering’s (NACC) Care Cook of the Year Competition at Brooklands College in Weybridge.

His mouth-watering menu of roast pork belly stuffed with black pudding, followed by a plum crumble tart with almond frangipane wowed the judges, who have chosen him represent his region at the national final at the University College Birmingham on Thursday 9th July.

Mark will compete against five other regional winners in a 90-minute cook off. Each menu will be judged on a range of factors, including innovation, cost, nutrition, balance and of course taste.

Mark, who has worked at Wantage Nursing Home since it opened in April 2008, said he was overwhelmed to be in the final.

He said: “It’s brilliant, I’m really pleased and it’s great news for the home. Everyone was nervous on the day and it was hard work cooking in a strange kitchen but it all came together.

“I’m really looking forward to the next stage.”

Mark said residents at Wantage Nursing Home will be thrilled with his success and will be using their taste buds to help him to refine his dishes for the final.

Meanwhile one of Mark’s colleagues Diane Bowers, assistant cook at Sanctuary Care’s Jubilee Court in Cambridgeshire, came joint third place in the regional final with her menu of minced beef and stilton pie with a suet crust, followed by orange cheesecake with a chocolate chip base.

Carole Dormer, Sanctuary Care’s hotel and catering services manager, said: “Mark and Diane worked extremely hard under pressure and truly excelled themselves. I am immensely proud of them.

"I'm delighted that our chefs have been given the chance to showcase their individual dishes and raise the profile of care chefs and cooks within Sanctuary Care."

Open to chefs/cooks in the care sector, entrants in the competition are challenged to create a main course and dessert for four people, which is suitable for service users in a care setting and costs no more than £5.20.

The contest, aimed to raise the profile of care catering, is one of the longest standing independent recipe competitions in the UK.