Rotary Young Chef Competition 2024

10 teams of budding chefs from local secondary schools took part in the annual Rotary Young Chef competition held at Birchwood High School on 20 June. Each team had to produce a 2 course healthy meal for two for £18 in 90 minutes.

Junior  winners were the team from Birchwood High School -  Ali Bennett, Sophia Coxall, Elsa Gormley - and a team from The Hertfordshire and Essex High School - Jemma Caulfield, Yoanna Wu, Holly Greenwood  - won the intermediate competition.

Yoanna Wu, from The Hertfordshire and Essex High School, was crowned Bishop’s Stortford Rotary Young Chef for 2024 and will go forward to represent Bishop’s Stortford at the District Rotary Young Chef competition next year.

The expert judging panel, which included Daniel Harris, Head Chef of Host in Bishop’s Stortford, and Sanjay Kumar, Sous Chef at Novotel, Stansted, was very impressed with the standard of cooking, the team work and the range of skills demonstrated. Alan Beere, chairman of the judging panel, commented: “it was like a mini master chef competition – all the teams were working against the clock to produce interesting, delicious meals and the judges had a very difficult decision to make.”