A TALENTED chef from Elton has cooked-up a recipe for success.

Jason Clark had major medal success at Hotelympia 2004, the UK's largest food service, hospitality and leisure industry event.

The event saw more than 1,500 chefs from across the world compete to prove they are the cream of the culinary crop. The 30-year-old was awarded a gold medal for his show platter of meat, as well as winning silver in the Essential Cuisine Master Class and a bronze for his restaurant plates starters.

Jason, a restaurant development chef who works for All Leisure, the sport and leisure division of Compass Group, took part in the event at London's ExCeL Exhibition Centre last month.

As part of the Compass Group culinary team, Jason and his colleagues scooped more than 170 awards between them.

He and two colleagues, who work as chefs at Liverpool FC, scooped the gold medal in a new category at the event, the Major International Football Culinary Challenge.

This saw them compete against top chefs from other major UK football clubs to create a three-course meal 'suitable for the chairman of a football club when entertaining Sven Goran Eriksson.'

The regional trio were so successful, they were also named best overall team out of all the chefs competing in the Live Theatre, which is one of the biggest accolades on offer at Hotelympia.

Don Davenport, chief executive officer for Compass Group, said: 'This is a tremendous achievement on the part of Jason and all our competing chefs, recognising their first class culinary skills and commitment over an exhausting week.'