Perth College erupted in delight as catering student Jamie MacKinnon was named the Chef’s Protg on Friday.
The 17-year-old was finally able to break his silence after fellow students, friends, family and college staff watched the announcement on a giant screen.
Jamie, from Perth, triumphed after four weeks of tough competition.
Among the first to congratulate Jamie were the other Perth College students who started the process alongside him.
In the 20-episode series, Tom Kitchin, one of the UK’s most renowned chefs and holder of a Michelin star for his restaurant, went on a quest for a protg from his old college in Perth.
Fellow chefs Theo Randall and Michel Roux Jr did the same, but it was eventually Tom and Jamie who most impressed culinary greats Pierre Koffmann, Ruth Rodgers and Michel’s father Albert Roux during a tense final.
Just after the programme ended, a delighted Ian Gibb, Perth College UHI hospitality subject leader, said: “This is a fantastic result for Jamie, for Tom and for Perth College UHI as well. All of our students managed the pressure really well and I’m extremely proud of them.
“For Jamie, in particular, managing to do his best in front of some of the world’s most famous chefs was an incredible test of character, and I think he really showed what he’s made of in the final.
“To be the youngest competitor at only 17 and to do so well tells me that Jamie has a great future in the industry.”
Mr Gibb believes the Chef’s Protg will prove to be a huge boon for more than just Jamie, who will now start work at Tom’s celebrated Edinburgh restaurant the Kitchin when he completes college.
“Thanks to Tom Kitchin’s consistent, supportive approach and constructive feedback, all of our students learned and matured as chefs,” said Mr Gibb. “The memories of the Chef’s Protg will stay with them for life and, hopefully, some will follow in our former student Tom’s very successful footsteps.”
Jamie himself believes that Tom’s tutelage has already had a huge impact upon his cookery and he hopes to develop both his skills and his relationship with the chef in the years to come.
“This has been one of the best experiences of my life,” he said. “First of all, learning so much from a fantastic chef like Tom Kitchin, then seeing how he runs his restaurant, and finally, cooking for world-famous chefs like Pierre Koffmann, Ruth Rogers and Albert Roux. It’s been like a dream come true.
“But I knew that if I listened to Tom and did my best I would have a chance of winning. The most important thing that I’ve learn from Tom is to respect what goes into the dishes.
“His style of combining the best of Scottish ingredients and classic French cookery techniques is something I’d really like to master myself.
“I’m really grateful to everyone at the college for giving me this opportunity and for setting me up with the skills I needed, but, now that the competition is over, I’m going to take up Tom’s offer of working in his own kitchen.”
Proud of his achievements, but sad to see him move on, are colleagues at the Murrayshall House Hotel, where he has worked for two years as a comis chef.
A spokesman said: “He is a very talented young man and, though he remains a comis chef, we have had to ‘promote’ him a few times as he really is a lot more than that, even at such a young age. We’ve been delighted to have him working here.”