Young people cooked up a range of culinary masterpieces in the B&NES Young Chef of the Year final, staged by the Council and Sirona Care and Health.
On Tuesday 22nd January, 14 finalists from seven different secondary schools across Bath and North East Somerset celebrated their skills in experimenting with flavours in the kitchen and compete against each other at Ston Easton Park – the prestigious location where the BBC’s Great British Bake Off was filmed.
The finalists, from years 8 and 9, were shortlisted after winning through the first and second rounds of the competition, which were held within each secondary school. The young chefs cooked for a special judging panel including; Dan Moon, Head Chef at Ston Easton Park; Judy Allies, Director of Public Health Award Coordinator for Bath & North East Somerset Council and Jo Ross, South West Regional Manager for national cookery club network Let’s Get Cooking.
The competition was organised in partnership with Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Director of Public Health Award for Schools, Early Years and Colleges which recognises the work carried out by educational settings to make a real difference to the health and wellbeing of children and families in the area.
Councillor Dine Romero (Lib-Dem, Southdown), Cabinet Member for Early Years, Children and Youth, said: “The Young Chef competition gives our young people the opportunity to use their creativity and flair within the kitchen to design and make a healthy recipe from scratch. Cooking amongst young people is becoming increasingly popular – with learning to cook from a young age being recognised as a valuable life skill which Bath & North East Somerset Council is keen to encourage.”
Claire Riggs, Competition organiser and Health Improvement Specialist at Sirona Care and Health, said: “I am very excited for the final stage of the competition on 22nd January and am eager to meet the competition finalists and see the variety of ingredients and skills the young people will bring to the competition. We are very fortunate to have Ston Easton Park supporting the competition and I know the aspiring chefs are looking forward to cooking within a kitchen facility at a luxury fine dining hotel. Good luck to all the finalists.”
