TEEN CUISINE

Young chefs turn up the heat at Deeside College

 

 

 
On February 28th 2008, Deeside College hosted the North West final of the
Rotary Club's Young Chef of the Year competition.

Young chefs aged 17 and under, who had won earlier heats organised by Rotary clubs from across the North West, were given an hour and a half to prepare, cook and serve a two course healthy meal option.
Mold Rotary club were represented by Argoed High School student Jenna
Sherratt. Jenna, who won the Teen Cuisine final held at last year's Mold Food and Drink Festival, prepared a fish main course and a pear in walnut and wine sauce for her dessert course.
Jenna Sherratt. Winner at the 2007 Food and Drink Festival
Following much deliberation from a judging panel made up of chefs with years of experience working in the catering industry, Jenna was named as the winner and will go on to represent the North West district region at the next stage of the competition.

Deeside College Senior Project Manager, Carolyn Preece, said, "We were delighted to play host to such a fiercely competed final. The standard of the food prepared by all the young chefs during the competition was excellent. We hope the competition has inspired the young chefs to consider catering as a viable career option, and wish Jenna all the best in the next stage of the competition."

Having being named the winner Jenna said, "I have always enjoyed cooking and
jumped at the chance to take part in the Teen Cuisine scheme last year.
Winning that competition gave me the belief to try new dishes and really made
me start considering a career in catering."


The Teen Cuisine was developed by Deeside College and is aimed at giving a
group of students from all high schools in Flintshire an intensive grounding
in catering and an insight into Catering and Hospitality as a viable career
path.

Each day, the students are taught by a number of experienced Deeside College
Chef Lecturers to ensure that they received the broadest experience possible.
Across the week the students learn a number of culinary skills which include
basic knife skills and vegetable cuts, making soups and sauces and creating
pasta dishes, curries, cakes and desserts.


Mold Rotary Club and Teen Cuisine

 

The Mold Hotel and Restaurant Association, organisers of the Mold Festival, are very grateful for the support and sponsorship of the Teen Cuisine competition by The Mold Rotary Club.

 

For the 2007 Teen Cuisine competition Mold Rotary Club provided aprons, Certificates of Participation (for inclusion with Student's Record of Achievement), and a cash prize.


As a result, last year's winner Jenna Sherrat, qualified for and was then
sponsored  by the Rotary Club to enter the Rotary District 1180 Young Chef
Competition. Jenna won that competition and went on  to enter the Rotary
Regional Young Chef Competition. The region included the whole of North and
mid Wales, Merseyside, Lancashire, Cheshire, Cumbria up to the Scottish
Border, and the Isle of Man. Jenna came a very close second on a split
decision by the judges, narrowly missing the opportunity to enter the
recent National Final.


The Rotary Club of Mold are sponsoring the Teen Cuisine Competition again in
2008, and the wnner will have an opportunity to enter the Rotary District
1180 Young Chef Competition early in 2009 (maybe even to win and go on to the next stages ! )

 

Winning the Teen Cuisine Competition could be the start of progress which
would benefit a young person's career prospects!