Dear Cully & Sully,

With 258 contestants and only 6 finalist places up for grabs, the competition for the coveted wildcards is going to be very tough indeed. A quick scroll through the entries shows me that I’m WAY down the list in terms of votes, so at this stage a wildcard is my only hope. I’m sure you’ve had plenty of e-mails from people trying to secure a spot, so I’ll keep mine as short as possible. However, with so many contestants in the running I wanted to make sure you knew how passionately I want this and why (I think!) I deserve a shot at the crown.

For me, it’s not just about cooking – it’s about food. Everything about food – growing, rearing, fishing, hunting, foraging, browsing markets and shops for produce and ingredients, etc. (My wardrobe is empty because every time I go shopping I end up browsing food halls and stalls instead!) It’s about nutrition and health, and how food can be more powerful than anything pharmacologically produced. (I’m a big fan of Johanna Budwig and her work, as well as Patrick Holford and other nutritionists.) Finally, it’s about food culture and what food represents – quality time with friends and family, how food is used to celebrate major events, etc. It fascinates me to see how Christmas dinner in Lithuania (where my husband is from) differs from what we enjoy here in Ireland, and even how we’ve been influenced by those even further west within the last century. (Bring back the goose!)

I studied Hotel Management because I loved being the hostess. My favourite job of all time was as Restaurant Supervisor in Ashford Castle. It combined my love of fine food with true hospitality and care for our guests. However, my experience of professional cooking was of being a line-cook in either a large hotel kitchen or industrial catering kitchen, neither of which had (or have) any appeal to me. I like to be close to guests / customers, not hidden behind the scenes. I ended up in Front Office Management as it came with more regular hours and, although I was dealing with guests directly, the industry lost its magic for me without the food. I got involved in Front Office systems and gradually moved towards IT where I got “stuck” for quite a long time. I happily cooked and entertained in my spare time, but until recently I never considered cooking for a living.

As I’m now nearing 40 (yikes!) I’ve been giving some serious thought to my career. I’m very successful at what I do (see my profile on LinkedIn), but am totally unfulfilled. For the past year or so I’ve been trying to figure out how I can make a career out of food. I watched Rick Stein’s “Spain” and for months dreamed of raising Iberian pigs in Andalusia. The thought of those beautiful pigs happily nuzzling their way through a field of acorns to produce that succulent, oil-rich meat just fascinates me. I’ve considered opening a bakery or even a soup stall at a food market, but just feel I lack the cooking skills to make it a success. My ultimate dream is to run a small, boutique hotel serving wholesome, locally sourced and seasonal food. I’d love to be able to produce some of the food myself, even if it’s just the eggs and some fruit and veg. (Sound familiar, Cully?! How lucky are you?!)

Anyway, it’s been clear to me for weeks that I was never going to be able to compete for this title with votes – I just don’t have the network of Facebook friends. With a full-time job, I also don’t have time to hit the campaign trail. (I want to take nothing away from those who managed to get votes – I’m sure they’ve worked very hard for them.) When I realised I couldn’t compete I focused instead on a food blog to demonstrate my love for all things “food” and my humble ability. I’ve been putting every spare ounce of time and energy into the blog for the last month or so. Before you make your final decision, I would love for you to browse through the page to see my passion for yourselves.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cheffactor-2011-Pumpkin-Peanut-Soup-by-Jun...

Right – so I’m not quite as succinct as I would like to be – apologies for rambling! It’s just very difficult to express how much I want this is just a few lines. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and for the competition itself. If nothing else it has spurred me on and made me focus my efforts on what I really want. Hope to meet you (one way or the other) at the Chef Factor party!

Best Regards,

June.