Two talented Sanctuary Care chefs are putting their culinary skills to the test after being short-listed for the regional heat of a national cookery contest.

Mark Ord, head chef at Wantage Nursing Home in Oxfordshire and Diane Bowers, assistant cook at Jubilee Court in Cambridgeshire, are through to the south east regional round of the National Association of Care Catering’s (NACC) Care Cook of the Year Competition.

Open to chefs/cooks in the care sector, entrants must 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.

Mark devised a mouth watering dish of roast pork belly stuffed with black pudding, followed by a plum crumble tart with almond frangipane. Meanwhile Diane has prepared minced beef and stilton pie with a suet crust, followed by orange cheesecake with a chocolate chip base.

The pair will now go head to head with two other chefs in a regional cook off in Weybridge on Tuesday 24th March, where they will prepare their menus for a panel of judges. One person will be chosen from this round to represent their region in July’s final in Birmingham.

Mark said: “I am really pleased to have got through and am very excited about the next stage.

“I am looking forward to being given the opportunity to show what chefs in the care industry can produce.”

Diane added: “I’m absolutely delighted and thrilled to have got through and am looking forward to the next challenge.”

Meanwhile Carole Dormer, Sanctuary Care’s hotel and catering services manager, said: "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."

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