A PAELLA chef has won a national title. Callum Godfrey, a chef at La Tasca, in Saddler Street, Durham City, was named the restaurant chain’s Paella Chef of the Year following a national final held in Windsor on Tuesday, November 6.

Mr Godfrey, 23, of Esh Winning, County Durham, won a food hamper and his recipe will be added to the menu at La Tasca restaurants across the country.

He said: “I was confident. I had everything prepared and ready. I was really pleased to win.”

Mr Godfrey’s recipe includes duck wings, chorizo, apricot puree and green olives.

He said: “The bitterness of the olives and the sweetness of the apricots altogether is just amazing.”

Richard Marsay, his manager, said: “We’re really pleased at his accomplishment.

“He became a chef quite recently and he was up against some pretty tough competition from across the country.”

Mr Godfrey became a chef after struggling to find work as a joiner. He got a job at La Tasca as a kitchen porter, before being promoted to chef a few months later.