Biographies of professional and amateur chefs:

This is a very short biography and if you want more information you can visit the contributor's website where you will usually find contact details. If you wish us to pass a message on email us.

I find Alan's interest and dedication to food and cooking fascinating. I have been after him for some time to let us have his biography. This is what he had to say:

I have been interested in food for around twelve years now. I got started after a visit to the famous Sharrow Bay Hotel at Ullswater here in the Lake District. A trip out for a birthday meal turned into a night of gastronomic heaven and I went back out through the gates that night a converted man. How anyone could cook to that standard was beyond me, I was hooked and decided that I had to learn to create the dishes that I had eaten for myself. The next day I ventured into my local bookstore, bought my first cookery book and as they say "the rest is history".

Shortly after that, my wife entered me, without my knowledge for the BBC's Masterchef. I had to practise quite a lot quite quickly and ended up qualifying for the televised finals with Michel Roux as the judge. That was followed by a behind the scenes stint at Michel's restaurant "The Waterside" at Bray, alongside the Thames and shortly after that I spent working visits with Anton Mosimann, Michel Roux jnr. And a week at the Manoir Aux Quat Saisons with Raymond Blanc learning the arts of the masterchefs, quite an adventure for a construction electrician.

I have since had the wonderful opportunity to cook on ITVs "This morning" as the family cook of the year. Taken a friend along to cook with Ainsley on "Can't Cook, Won't Cook", had a spell on Channel 4s "Chef for a Night" where I was basically thrown in at the deep end and had to cook a seven course meal for forty-five people in an alien environment . . . lucky me!

At the moment I am still working in the electrical safety department at Sellafield nuclear complex in Cumbria, still passionate about food, as a hobby only with absolutely no desire to go in as a pro.

Alan Spedding

To visit Alan's website - click here.

Hub-UK comment:

One of the first recipes that Alan sent in was Chicken with Wild Mushroom Cream - I was impressed with how easy this recipe was to prepare and I have to tell you I have eaten variations of this using fresh mushrooms (whatever is available) instead of dried every week since. If you don't try any other recipes from Hub-UK you must try this one!