Youngsters cook up a storm in national competition

Budding chefs between the ages of 12 and 16 from local schools were testing their skills in Burton and South Derbyshire College’s (BSDC) Skills Kitchen on Friday 29th November when they took part in Springboard’s FutureChef competition.

The competition is made up of four stages, with stage two, the local finals, held in BSDC’s Skills Kitchen, to be followed by regional finals at Loughborough College on Friday 7th February.

The five competitors worked hard to impress the judging panel by cooking a two course meal for two people, with students hailing from The Pingle Academy, Thomas Alleynes High School and Oldfields Hall Middle School.

During the competition, Burton and South Derbyshire College Level 3 Professional Cookery students, Jamie Stonier-Rice and Georgia Sturgess provided support to set up the equipment and workstations. They also helped out as guest judges alongside judge, Rob Harling from The Hilton at St. George’s Park.

Judges took composition, taste and flavour, creativity and presentation, the choice of ingredients and nutritional balance into consideration when selecting the overall winner of the local finals, Joe Parry from The Pingle Academy.

Winners of the local finals will now go through to the regional heat for a chance to compete in the national final in London in March. The national final will see the competitors serving a two course meal for three people from a selection of ingredients, chosen by top industry chefs from around the UK. Their culinary efforts will be judged by industry and celebrity chefs.

Rob Harling commented that the “the standard is very high for competitors who are so young”, while Jamie Stonier-Rice and Georgia Sturgess agreed that getting to judge fellow aspiring chefs was “a great experience”, as well as “a good opportunity to see the techniques that other people use”.
 
Mulberry Restaurant Manager and Lecturer at Burton and South Derbyshire College, Mitchell Ogden, said: “We were very pleased to welcome Springboard to BSDC for the FutureChef competition! There is some excellent talent in this competition and our Skills Kitchen proved a fantastic facility for them to compete in. Our students did a brilliant job supporting the event and it gave them yet another highly valuable opportunity to gain real life experience for their future careers.”