The countdown is on to the world’s biggest culinary competition – and UK hopes rest with a Birmingham chef. Richard McComb reports.

I would love to tell you about the plate of food I am admiring because it looks incredible.

I would also love to tell you what the dish tastes like because it tastes phenomenal, too.

But I can’t. This stuff is top secret. If I revealed what I am tucking into I would have a chef with a very sharp collection of kitchen knives in swift pursuit.

The food I am eating, standing alongside Brian Turner, president of the Academy of Culinary Arts, will be unveiled to the public next week at the European qualifying heat of the world’s most prestigious chef competition.

Adam Bennett, head chef at Simpsons in Edgbaston, is representing the UK at the Bocuse D’Or, set up in honour the most famous chef of the modern era, Lyon’s Paul Bocuse.

With the weight of the UK’s professional cooks on his shoulders, Bennett will go into battle against kitchen maestros representing 19 other countries, 12 of whom will go through to the world final, to be held in Lyon in January 2013.

Everything will come down to two plates of food – a fish dish and a meat dish – which the chefs will have six hours to prepare in the pressure cooker atmosphere of the Brussels Expo in Belgium.

The main ingredients change every year and this time the fish is sole and shrimps and the meat is a French blue-legged chicken. Each chef must produce 14 portions of each course, accompanied by three garnishes.

They must taste and look spectacular. Hence the need for pre-competition secrecy.

To help Bennett prepare for the big day, a special kitchen has been built at University College Birmingham in a partnership with the Academy of Culinary Arts (ACA). It is an exact replica – to the nearest millimetre – of the kitchen he will use in Brussels.

An invited audience, including sponsors and fellow chefs, is here for the official opening of the Bocuse d’Or training kitchen.

We are also given a glimpse of the fruits of one of Bennett’s final run throughs before he flies to Belgium.

There will be five or six additional practice sessions before he takes on the likes of France, Spain and Switzerland. He will also have to dislodge the hotshots of Scandinavian, who have dominated the competition in recent years.

Bennett will be accompanied by commis chef Kristian Curtis, the British Culinary Federation’s Young Chef of the Year. Kristian will be the only hands-on help permitted on the day with Nick Vadis adding support as the (non-cooking) coach.

Bennett, 44, from Coventry, says: “Kristian is a star. He has responded to the challenge brilliantly.

‘With a commis in this competition, you are looking for a chef with skills but you are looking for character as well. He is perfect for me.” The chef says he is happy now the details of his dishes – the use of the main ingredients, the garnishes and the sauces – have been finalised.

He says: “I am looking forward to it now. The nearer I get to the competition, the better the feeling. It is in the development stage that I feel the stress. My idea is that if you get that right, you will be all right on the day. I am feeling good now and want to give it a massive push. The objective is to get to Lyon and do it in style.”

Although Bennett’s preparation has been meticulous, the lack of financial support for UK candidates means many European rivals have a head start, taking a year off work to research their recipes and plot their Bocuse D’Or campaigns.

Eastern European countries are so keen to exploit the cultural and marketing cachet of the contest that they are prepared to pay former successful competitors handsomely to advise on their bids.

By comparison, Bennett has been playing catch-up.

His work only began in earnest in January and that has only been possible due to the support of Simpsons’ owner Andrea Antona, who has freed him from kitchen responsibilities.

Brian Turner will be the UK’s judge for the competition and this will be his 13th year.

He says it is a huge coup for the UK chef to be from Birmingham and success in Brussels, and then Lyon, would be a significant marketing asset for the city’s growing gastronomic scene.

Turner says: “Here is a wonderful opportunity for Birmingham, which has been raising its profile. Here is a ladder and you can shoot up it. It is interesting that Birmingham is twinned with Lyon and there is a natural synergy between the two cities. Lyon has always had a reputation for food and Birmingham is heading that way.”

Turner says it would have been unthinkable for a Birmingham-based chef to represent the UK at the Bocuse D’Or just 10 years ago and the fact that Bennett had been selected as the strongest candidate reflected the progress the city has made in developing its culinary reputation.

The European selection for the Bocuse d’Or takes place over two days as part of Horeca Life, an international food show, with 10 competitors cooking each day.

Bennett goes into action on Tuesday and will have to wait until the following day to see if he has been successful in qualification for Lyon.