Young chefs serve up a treat in cookery contest

The eight wannabe chefs, aged 12-14, competed in the Sussex final of the Create & Cook Competition at Chichester College last Thursday.

The competition, run by fit2cook food education and sponsored by The Southern Co-operative, challenges entrants to create and cook a two-course menu using as many Sussex-sourced ingredients as possible. It aims to nurture young talent and celebrate local food.

The winning pair were Jasmine Cheeseman and Charlotte Cole from Angmering School in Littlehampton. They blew the judges away with their menu of Littlehampton black bream with a spring herb dressing served with local new potatoes and asparagus followed by rhubarb marshmallow dessert.

Jasmine said: “We feel really proud of ourselves getting this far but going on to the regionals is just unbelievable.”

Charlotte added: We’ll probably have to change some of the ingredients so it’s more skill and then hopefully we’ll win the next one.

They will go on to the regional final in June.

Katie Stoner, the girls’ Food Technology teacher, said: “They have done really well. They have been practising several times to get to this level and today they pulled out all the stops and the result was fantastic.”

Fellow chefs Lucy Bleach and Megan Parkes, of Millais School in Horsham, George Powling and Jacob Wetherall, from The Forest School in Horsham, and Nathan and Holly Aylett, from Warden Park School in Cuckfield, all delivered impressive dishes.

Local food writer Rosemary Moon, who was one of the judges, said: “We hear so much about food and young people and how they just

want to eat burgers and fast food but to see two people working together to create an amazing meal using local seasonal produce is just fantastic.”