Thatcham Rotary Club held recently at Newbury College the West Berkshire heat of the Young Chef 2012 competition sponsored by Filippo Berio.
The competition could be entered by anyone between the ages 11 to 17 years old. Entrants were asked to prepare a healthy three course meal for two people costing no more than £15. Young people from schools around Berkshire took part in the contest, including The Kennet, Trinity and The Willink. The College's excellent teaching kitchens were selected as the setting for the first round of the Young Chef competition in west Berkshire.
Ron Howard of Thatcham Rotary Club said, The standard of the cooking was very impressive. I was amazed by the way in which the young competitors planned their menus and then calmly carried out all the tasks required to produce three healthy courses of such high quality. We are very grateful to Newbury College for allowing the use of their high quality cooking facilities to make the organisation of the event possible. We are also pleased that Destination Newbury kindly agreed to sponsor the local competition.
Participants work was judged by a panel of three food experts, Sue Wright Newbury College Catering Course Leader, Gary Ockwell the Manager at Regency Park Hotel and a local chef, Ian Alexander. The judging criteria included entrants providing full costing details for their meals, submitting work plans, their list of ingredients, presentation, taste and healthiness of their food. The overall winner was Kate Fuller from the Willink School who will now go on to the District Final to compete against other young chefs for the chance to go through to the regional and national finals. The overall winner will be presented with a trophy and prizes from the sponsor Filippo Berio.
Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland believes it is highly important to encourage and develop creativity in young people, and this includes creativity in the kitchen so in association with Filippo Berio they have been able to promote this over the past years and will continue to do so through their Young Chef competitions.
If you're interested in finding out more information about the Young Chef competitions please visit the Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland (RIBI) website www.ribi.org. Alternatively if you would like to find out more information in hiring Newbury College's kitchen facilities or for any other information on the courses offered at the College please call on 01635 84500 or visit www.newbury-college.ac.uk.