Rotary Young Chef Competition

On Tuesday, 4th December, I was fortunate to be selected as a judge in the first round of the internal Rotary Young Chef competition where five Year 9 and 10 students cooked one dish each for the five demanding judges.  Imagine my surprise and delight not to just be part of this exciting competition, I was also about to see the Academy values being showcased for this event.

• Kindness – Miss Tucker inviting staff to judge this!  And Mrs Williamson for supporting and encouraging the students throughout the event!
• Curiosity – Miss Tucker had given the brief of creating one tasty, colourful dish and presenting to the judges – and in just one hour!  Students rose to this challenge, researching, planning, discovering foods to use in their dishes
• Determination – In their quest to deliver this challenge we were delighted to see students focused on finishing their dishes to perfection and certainly the presentation and tastes did not disappoint.  We were treated to a menu of excellent choices – a pork and paprika volcano with seasonal veg, ravioli (own made pasta) with butternut squash filling and sage butter, fish and chips with own made tartare sauce and two desserts – a roulade with chocolate and raspberries and lemon meringue pie (own pastry, own lemon curd and Italian meringue topping)! 

It was difficult to find one winner in a very close competition so we applauded Year 9 student Max, with his fish and chips and Year 10 student Alyssa, with her lemon meringue pie to a joint first place! 

Well done to all the students participating – amazing creations in just one hour showcasing skills they have learned from their lessons!  Certainly the impressed judges wish the winners well in the next round where the three other participating students will judge their efforts! 
 
Fast forward ten years to 2028?  I imagine myself watching at least one of these students participating in Professional Masterchef – how excited I will be to say I ate their signature dish first!
 
Miss Tucker would like to firstly applaud all students that took part and echo Mrs Cadman's kind words above, I am beyond proud of you all and secondly thank all staff that took their time to support the students - Miss Bones, Mrs Cadman, Miss Chadwick and Mrs Dibble, and of course the lady that holds it altogether Mrs Williamson.