Food photography with Bradford chef Jonathon Davies.
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Jonathon Davies, winner of Britain’s Best Dish 2010. Image Copyright Tony May 2010.
This year’s edition of Britains Best Dish, ITV’s television competition for amateur chefs, finished screening on ITV1 less than two weeks ago and the winner was Yorkshire’s Jonathon Davies with his exquisite dish of Seared Masala Cannon of Spring Lamb.
I’ve worked with Jonathon before and he asked me to produce all the photography for his new website which launched last week following the broadcast of the final.
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Britain’s Best Dish 2010. Copyright Tony May 2010
His dish was judged the overall winner by the final studio audience after triumphing in the heats, the regional finals and the main course final, where it was highly praised and voted through at every stage by the celebrity judges.
It’s a very modern and inspired take on a classic “British Indian” theme, using marinated lamb with with pea and mint puree, a bombay potato served on a bed of spinach, finished with coriander lemon and rosewater foam and accompanied with a mango and yoghurt raita and sweet onion chutney.
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Sweet Onion Chutney cooked by Jonathon Davies. Image Copyright Tony May 2010.
We spent a busy day in his kitchen producing images of him cooking the winning dish, including the preparation of the spices which he imports himself and which are key ingredients in the success of his dish.
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Spices and raita ingredients. Image Copyright Tony May 2010
Jonathan prepared the dish three times so that we could capture the creation of his dish at each stage as well as on the plate. It also meant we got to try it! The freshness and intensity of the flavours were miles away from an everyday Indian food experience and I was amazed at how tender the lamb was.
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Seared Masala Cannon of Spring Lamb. Image Copyright Tony May 2010.
It was an enjoyable day and we had some fun. Back in the studio in Leeds, some of the delicious aromas of Jonathon’s food had stayed on my lights, so for several days I had a mouth watering reminder of the shoot.

It wasn’t all serious. Image Copyright Tony May 2010.
Jonathan has a lot of talent to support him in pursuing his dream of a career in food and he’s well on the way.
See more of my food and people photography on my website.