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Sophie McLaughlin

Great British Menu: Meet the Northern Ireland chefs facing off in this series

BBC's Great British Menu is back for series 17 and new hopefuls are set to battle it out for the chance to represent Northern Ireland on Tuesday night's episode.

Four of NI's finest chefs will compete with canapes, starters and fish dishes inspired by 100 years of British broadcasting with the remaining competitors take on mains and desserts celebrating the Apollo 11 moon landing and Eurovision.

Meet this year's Great British Menu NI Chefs:

Gemma Austin

Having competed last year, Carryduff chef Gemma Austin is back in the Great British Menu kitchen.

Having made it through to the judge's chamber last year, she is determined more than ever to get one of her dishes to the banquet this year.

Read more: Enniskillen chef Marty McAdam launches new 15 course dining experience in the town

Gemma opened her restaurant A Peculiar Tea in Belfast which serves themed dinners and afternoon teas and hopes it celebrates everything that is playful and fun, and a temporary escape from ‘the real world.’

According to her BBC chef profile, Gemma "owes her love of food to her mother who was a chef in a local Belfast restaurant".

It said: "She went into cheffing aged 21 taking her first job at Slims Kitchen on the Lisburn Road where she cut her teeth for a year while doing a Culinary Masters Course.

"For four years Gemma continued studying and working full time at a variety of great establishments and rose the ranks from commis chef to sous chef of a 2-rosette kitchen.

Gemma worked at the Fitzwilliam hotel in Belfast (5* hotel) where she rose to head pastry chef, before moving to luxury hotel The Old Inn, Crawfordsburn (4* hotel) where she worked all the sections and eventually became sous chef."

Chris McClurg

Chris McClurg was born and raised in Co Down (BBC)

Co Down Chef Chris McClurg is also back in the Great British Menu kitchen with a hunger to prove he has what it takes to go all the way to the banquet.

The last time he appeared on our screens, three of his four dishes came second to the winners in Finals week.

His chef profile said: "Chris is proud to have worked with veteran chef Paul Ainsworth for over 10 years, and is now Chef de Cuisine at No6. He’s part of the team that won and have kept, their 1*and 4 AA rosettes, and was named the Observer Food Monthly’s Chef of the Year in 2018.

"Whilst Chris has made Padstow his home, he was born and bred in County Down, Northern Ireland, and he couldn’t imagine representing any other region in the GBM kitchen."

Chris is looking to comedian Roy Walker as inspiration for an engaging ‘Catchphrase’ inspired turbot dish, and uses the longest running entertainment show in the world, ‘The Royal Variety Performance’ to influence what he hopes will be just one of his show-stopping dishes.

Stephen Hope

Belfast-born chef Stephen Hope began his career at Merchant Hotel, where he worked his way up to Sous Chef before moving to Michael Deane's 1* restaurant, Deanes.

Stephen entered the Gordon Ramsay Scholarship along with 500 other hopefuls to claim the top spot, and has since cooked at many of Ramsay’s restaurants around the world.

The BBC said: "He describes himself as highly competitive, and at just 18 he claimed a silver medal in Ireland’s Junior Chef of the Year before going on to be the youngest person to win Ireland’s Senior Chef of the Year just two years later.

"Stephen is now proud owner of Dawsons, a small casual dining restaurant in Castledawson, and he plans to further his love of cooking over fire by opening a BBQ restaurant in the near future.

"A long-time fan of Great British Menu, Stephen is thrilled to be representing Northern Ireland on the show that he has watched and enjoyed for many years."

Marty McAdam

Marty McAdam from Enniskillen (Marty McAdam)

Enniskillen's Marty McAdam's career began to take off as he worked under the legendary Tom Kitchin at his 1* restaurant before moving back to Ireland to work with Neven Maguire in Macnean House.

On returning home to Enniskillen, Marty fulfilled a life-long dream by opening up his own restaurant, The Street Kitchen and Paget Lane.

His chef profile reads: "After four years he was hungry for a new adventure, so he travelled the globe cooking in some of the most beautiful destinations in the world, including a year spent in Australia before cheffing on a superyacht which took him around the Med and the Indian Ocean.

"Marty hopes to make his friends and family proud with dishes inspired by breakfast radio and the ever popular Belfast-based drama, Line of Duty."

Watch Great British Menu tonight on BBC 2 at 8pm.

Read more: Food review: A Peculiar Tea brings quirky fine-dining to Belfast

Read more: Derry chef on life after 'Great British Menu' and opening new restaurant

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