Yesterday, three Foodies100 bloggers were invited to London for a cook-off with celebrity chef Michael Caines. As the finalists in the Uniform Foodies competition, Nova from Cherished By Me, Alida from My Little Italian Kitchen and Vicky from The Free From Fairy all got to battle it out to be the winner, while being able to get tips from their cooking hero.

“I had to ask him about knives!” says Vicky. “I have terrible knives and my dad has offered to buy me a set of good knives…so who better to ask than a top chef! He recommended Victorinox, saying that he still had his first ever set! If that isn’t a good recommendation then I don’t know what is.”

While Alida asked him about meat seasoning. “’Do you season your meat before cooking it or afterwards?’ I asked him. I have always being in doubt about this one,” she says. “Some people say it gets tough if you season it before. He said seasoning before cooking it is perfectly fine. There you go, a tip from a top chef!”

All three bloggers cooked their dish for Michael, and it was Alida from My Little Italian Kitchen who he chose as the winner – with her Mediterranean lemon chicken salad with rosemary new potatoes. Well done Alida!