Young Chef of the Year

The local round of the 2016 Rotary Young Chef of the Year competition took place at Sussex Coast College in Hastings on 11 November 2015. The competition was organised by the Rotary Club of Senlac and featured students from the South Coast College and Robertsbridge Community College; unfortunately two schools were late withdrawals. Nonetheless some 8 students competed against each other. Paul Webbe, the local chef and restaurant owner, was head judge and commented on the very high standard of cooking. The overall winner was 14 year old Archie Blackmore from Robertsbridge Community College who served up an attractive dish of pork medallions, home-made apple sauce, steamed tender stemmed broccoli and orange-glazed carrots. Second place went to Rhys Brockhurst of the Sussex Coast College for a Blackberry and Apple Crumble with ice cream. Archie and Rhys will now represent the Rotary Club of Senlac in the next round in Maidstone in January. Robertsbridge Community College is now beginning to build a reputation in the local rounds as last year’s local winner was James Goodhew, also from the college.

Senlac Rotarians and guests were able to try firsthand the winning dishes at a dinner held at the Sussex Coast College. Archie and Rhys were in the kitchen and re-created and served their dishes as part of the evening menu. Senlac president, Roger Young, presented certificates to the two young chefs and spoke how Rotary encouraged young people to further their potential careers and hoped that they in years to come could inspire other up and coming youngsters.