Young Chef Competition

The first round of this competition was held at the Beacon School, Banstead on Thursday 24th January. Rachel Wellburn was the teacher organising the competition at the school and Andrew Cousens, the chef from Cuddington Golf Club was the judge, something he has done several times in the past, and he always does this well, sampling the food produced at the end of the competition and making positive comments. This year, although there were only three competitors, he said the standard was very high. The winner was Oliver Trowell whose starter was spinach and ricotta ravioli with a pesto cream. The main course was herb and parmesan crusted rack of lamb with minted crushed potatoes and lamb jus, followed by a dessert of Sicilian lemon posset with vanilla shortbread. His meal was very well presented as you can see from the photograph. Oliver went on to compete in the next round, which was on Saturday 26th January and he came second in that round, so will go on to a third round. Jack Beales came second with his meal of mature cheddar cheese and onion bread rolls with a spicy salsa dipping sauce, a main course of creamy Mediterranean vegetable risotto, followed by a chocolate brownie sundae combined with cream and a crumbling topping of flake and biscuit. Amy Brill came third with a rich pepper and onion soup served with a home made roll, followed by lemon chicken which tasted excellent with a blueberry muffin for dessert. At the end of the competition all were congratulated on what they cooked and they were presented with certificates for taking part, plus cheques to cover the cost of the food.