Jay Rayner

“Dappled pools of olive oil so virgin it has never even had an indecent thought,” and “roast potatoes … dark on account of having been shown a very good time by [the] raucous spice collection.” Rayner’s food writing is not just evocative, sensuous and witty, but is often shot through with bigger themes and fascinating personal tales – like that of Ghofran Hamza, the 25-year-old “Syrian refugee by way of Lebanon, who is determined to tell her 21st-century story at the stove” in “lucky mid-Wales.”

By contrast, London ‘pie king’ Calum Franklin’s mission to bring scotch eggs, sausage rolls and pastry to Paris has clearly gone awry – and it gives Rayner no pleasure to explain just how. To his chagrin, the stale bread, partially-cooked scotch egg, near-raw fennel and pastry, and “savage disappointment” of a lobster pie didn’t justify the price of the Eurostar ticket.

And then to the “over-the-top” Fenix in Manchester, the kind of place he usually hates at first sight “because it saves time.” But put aside your prejudices, he advises: “come for the food. It’s terrific.” “Wise, kind and honest, Rayner’s writing is brilliantly entertaining, evoking the food so accurately you can almost taste it,” said the judges.