Crawley College lecturer on BBC Two’s My Million Pound Menu

Paul Jacobs, Chef Lecturer and Assessor at Crawley College, impressed restaurant investors on BBC Two’s My Million Pound Menu.

Presented by Fred Sirieix, BBC Two’s My Million Pound Menu returned for the second series on Tuesday 8 January 2019.

Alongside training young students in professional cookery, Paul pursued his passion and joined business partner Ranie Sirah to take their Punjabi street food company ‘Jah Jyot’ to BBC Two.

The programme sees UK’s foodie entrepreneurs battle to secure major investments from a number of high-profile industry players to launch their restaurants.

Paul said: “Jah Jyot was founded over a beer with my friend Ranie, he had a dream to put his late mum’s food into a modern style with the authentic flavours, and serve it on the street.”

“We applied to My Million Pound Menu to enable us to utilise the wealth of experience the investors have within the industry, as well as using the financial investment to expand.”

Despite impressing judges with their “utter genius” and “delicious” gluten-free masala dosa, sadly ‘Jah Jyot’ were not chosen to open business in Manchester for the two-day trial.

Investors included Charlie McVeigh, Maurice Abboud and Jane O’Riordan who has been involved in the growth of Nando’s, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Pizza Express, Ask and Zizzi.

For any young students wishing to start their own food company, Paul said “have faith in your own ability, never settle for second best and always push yourself to achieve your goals.”

“As a former student at Crawley College myself, I really enjoy being able to pass on some of the knowledge I have learnt over the last 20 years to our learners at Crawley College. The new Commis Chef Standard we are currently delivering will bring a new generation of chef’s into our area.”

‘Jah Jyot’, which started around local markets in Lewes and Horsham, has now won several awards including Sussex Food & Drink Best Street Food Award, British Street Food Award and most recently the ‘Best of Best’ European Street Food Award.

When asked what’s next, Paul said “the next step is to push for more accolades and continue the dream!”

Find out more about professional cookery courses at Crawley College.