Top award for chefs at Norfolk hospital

Two chefs from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, have been named as the toast of the NHS, taking the prestigious gold medal in a national cookery contest for NHS catering staff.

Vitor Silvano and Andrew Russell were already one of the country's top 10 NHS catering teams, having been selected in regional finals to take part in this year's Hotelympia for the hotel, health, restaurant and catering trades.

The cook-off for NHS catering staff was the high point of the final day of the event, which is held every two years at ExCel, the London exhibition centre in Docklands.

In the same contest in 2008, QEH chefs Lisa Moore and Richard Lovell took the national bronze award.

During the final of the contest, the two QEH chefs and the other NHS teams were all challenged to produce a delicious two-course meal for no more than �2.05p.

The QEH duo took the top prizes for cookery and hygiene

Their award winning menu included ingredients which were all locally sourced.

The gold medal chefs offered Cley Hall pork with sage and apple mash, green beans and baton carrots, followed by a dessert of lemon and lime cheesecake.