Judah Smith is a kid with determination.

The 11-year-old Bermudian has already made great strides towards accomplishing his goal of becoming a chef.

He works under a professional chef in a bistro in London, England, writes a food blog (www.judahlondon.com) and appeared on the television show Junior MasterChef UK where he made it as far as the semi-final round.

He returned to the Island recently and cooked a three-course meal at Lido for some special guests including former Premier, Dame Jennifer Smith.

You were recently a guest chef at Lido. How did you decide what to make?

It took me about one or two weeks just to figure out what the menu would be and get the recipes down. I made ravioli and fish stew for the entrée and a starter of pear salad with walnuts, goat’s cheese and arugula. For dessert I made a sponge cake.

What went into preparing for that?

Well what I usually do is I will take something really simple like fish and chips and then separate it into the components they are made of. I will take each ingredient and make them into a completely different dish. With this I wanted to use the tastes and flavours that would go with the feeling of Bermuda because I like using more personality as a chef. The pear salad I learned how to make from working at the restaurant in London and the fish stew is quite comforting and something really popular here in Bermuda. We used local fish like sea bass for that dish and the ravioli is a little twist on things.

I hear that you shadow a chef at a London eatery. How did that come about?

Yes, I’ve been helping out at a restaurant called La Muse for maybe a year-and-a-half. They had just opened up then and my mom went there for her birthday. I was in Bermuda at the time, so I asked her if I could go when I came back to the UK. We went and I became good friends with the chef. I was also watching a few programmes on cooking at the time and started to develop a love for it. I asked the chef if I could come to work every Thursday afternoon. Now I do simple things like crush the peppercorns and pick the parsley, but sometimes they let me cook the bacon for the breakfast in the morning.

What’s the most unusual food you’ve ever eaten?

Probably escargot because people don’t normally eat that. It’s snail. When I first heard about it I was quite shocked that people actually ate snails and it was my mom’s friend who brought snails over to the house to cook them. So we tried them. When I was in France this summer I was able to get some fresh snails to eat.

Who is your favourite person you’ve been able to cook for so far?

I would say my whole family because then I get to see what foods and recipes they like. Once I figure that out I am able to extend it and try to take those to another level. When my aunt comes to the house I make a salad using all the fresh London lettuce leaves instead of the leaves she is used to eating here in Bermuda. She was surprised with how much she liked it.

What’s your speciality dish?

I would say a classic roast or any kind of roast meat. I like working with cookbooks, but will make the recipe my own. For instance, with chicken what I do is poke holes into it and stuff it with rosemary, thyme and take whole cloves of garlic and put it in the holes with some salt and pepper. It tastes really nice. If I am roasting it in the stove I do it for one to two hours, but on the grill it only takes half an hour because I like to cook everything on a high heat. That way it’s quicker and usually when it gets to night-time I get really hungry so I need to eat quickly.

What’s been your biggest catastrophe in the kitchen?

I was making guacamole for the first time and I was chopping the onions and not paying attention and my knife slipped and cut my finger really deep. I had to go to the hospital. It never stopped bleeding so my mom was quite worried that I would have to get stitches, but in the end it eventually stopped. I couldn’t really move my finger for a while after that or the cut would open back up again.

What’s your earliest memory involving cooking?

When I was sitting on the counter next to my mom just watching her make pancakes. I was really young back then.

Who is your biggest culinary inspiration?

Well the person who inspired me to get into cooking was [British celebrity chef] Heston Blumenthal. At the time I wanted to be a scientist, but I saw Heston on television and watched how he uses science in his cooking. He would make ice cream using dry ice and it’s just amazing to see how he uses what he loves and mixes it with food to elevate everything really. After that I started researching about him and learning about his history and he is just really amazing.

What’s been your biggest kitchen success?

When I did one of my mystery boxes, I’d say. My mom will sometimes bring home random ingredients for me to cook with. One time my cousin, who had recently come back from India, sent me some ingredients from her trip and I made a really classic Indian dish. It was my first chicken curry ever. I had never cooked with foreign spices and things like that. So it was a really great experience and while she was tasting it we were able to watch a movie and it was a really memorable moment.

Some parents have a hard time getting their children motivated but you seem to be great at pushing yourself, how come?

Well the fact that I can use science in cooking really motivates me. I try to do it as best as I can. Also, I’m really passionate about it because people love food and everyone needs to eat so I think cooking is a very good career to get into.

Where do you see yourself in ten years’ time?

Well I want to try and open my own restaurant and everyone right now is saying I will own a restaurant by the time I’m 15. I’m not sure, but anything is possible.

The Christmas holiday just passed. What did you get to cook for the big day?

For Boxing Day I made a lamb dish. I also made a cornbread stuffing and helped with three different turkeys. I took my rosemary chicken recipe and used it for the turkey. I also made my five-spice turkey and my herb and garlic one.

If you had some special guests for dinner tonight what would you make?

I’d probably do something really simple, maybe Beef Wellington because it’s quite different, but I sort of created something new with it. Both me and my mom really liked it. I turned them into dumplings and deep fried it. It was quite nice and I was able to make that again for my mom on New Year’s Eve one year, so that was a nice twist.