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Young Chef Competition

Tuesday 14th January saw the final of the preliminary round of the RIBI Young Chef Competition at The Weald School.

Tuesday 14th January saw the final of the preliminary round of the RIBI Young Chef Competition at The Weald School.

The competition is sponsored by Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland with the local Billingshurst Branch giving huge support in terms of time and prizes.  The event kicked off before Christmas with thirteen students each submitting a healthy three course menu and then cooking two courses.  Seven students went through to preliminary round final stage.

The pressure was on as they were required to cook all three courses within the space of two hours - a difficult task for the most accomplished chef!  The judges - Chris Stewart, Manager of the Canteen at The Weald and Anita Burdfield from the Queen’s Head in Barns Green - needed plenty of time to consider the differing aspects of the competition including the presentation of the final dishes.  Standards were very high but after tasting them all - the chocolate roulade seemed extremely popular - they came up with the very difficult job of naming the winners. In first place was Oliver Grover, 11 years old and runner up was Jodie Osborne who is 15.  Both received a cash prize and will go through to the next round at Imberhorne School, East Grinstead on 23 January.  In addition Oliver was thrilled to discover that he has also won a day in the kitchen of the Michelin starred  Pass Restaurant at the five star luxury hotel, South Lodge, in Horsham – an amazing experience and one that is sure to help fire his ambition to become a top chef.