A TOP chef has scooped a food 'Oscar' with a dish of iced yoghurt – after teaming up with Salcombe Dairy to create Tregothnan Honey Frozen Yoghurt Ice.

Now Tom Wood's culinary efforts have won him a three-star gold award in the national Great Taste Awards and the dish has been declared one of the top 50 foods in Britain.

Said Tom: 'I was blown away when I heard the news – and so pleased for Dan Bly at Salcombe Dairy who I've worked with on the project.

'The recipe is totally Westcountry – I made it with honey from the Tregothnan Estate in Cornwall, cream from a small dairy farm in Devon and yoghurt from Yarty Valley at Axminster, again in Devon.

'As a chef working at the heart of the local food scene, this is all great news for Devon, and of course to have a Great Taste Award for a recipe I've had the honour to work on is a great result.'

Salcombe Dairy's Dan Bly said: 'Tom, who is head chef at Dart Marina Hotel, has worked with us to develop several new recipes, both classic combinations and innovative new ices.

'We already supply restaurants across the South West and many high class restaurants in the South East including chefs in London who demand pure flavours, quality ingredients and a point of difference.

'Our ice creams and sorbets are also on board Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines flights – so this new flavour with its Great Taste Award may be winging across the oceans if we are lucky.

'It's also fitting that the ingredients are sourced from within the Westcountry. We celebrate this award for ourselves and for the spotlight it shines on Salcombe and Dartmouth.'

The Great Taste Awards have been running since 1993 and have become a national benchmark for speciality food and drink. The awards scheme now attracts 7,000 entries a year in dozens of food and drink categories.