Rotary Young Chef 2017 Club and Area Finals

Kirkcudbright Rotary and Academy 2017 Young Chef

Kirkcudbright Rotary Young Chef 2017

Emma Craig is Kirkcudbright Rotary Club Young Chef winner 2017 

On Wednesday 1st November, Emma Craig of S6 gained first place in the Rotary Young Chef competition organised jointly by  the Rotary Club of Kirkcudbright and Kirkcudbright Academy. The competition, which has been run locally for the past 10 years is open to anyone aged between 11 to 17 year olds. The four senior pupils taking part, each cooked a two course meal for two, using local ingredients, all for under £10 per pupil paid to them by the Rotary Club.

This year once again, the event was co-sponsored by Castle MacLellan Foods Limited. They provided prize money and aprons bearing the Castle MacLellan logos. 

All four students performed really well and for their efforts they were all presented with Rotary certificates. 

Emmas winning menu was : Chicken breast stuffed with haggis, savoury cabbage and fondant potatoes. for dessert she served Chocolate Fondant.

Runner up in the competition was Maya Johnston of S3 and in third place was Lauren Burgess of S5. The prize for Best Table Setting went to Ellie Gibson of S3.

The Rotary Young Chef competition was designed to give young people the chance to show off their creative culinary talents, to promote healthy eating and to learn important life skills.

The young chefs are all judged on their healthy menus, planning and organisational skills, hygiene, preparation skills and of course, the taste and presentation of the final dishes. 

The prizes were presented by Kirkcudbright Rotary Club President Paul Tebay. As in previous years, Rotary worked closely with the Home Economics Department at Kirkcudbright Academy, and particular thanks must go to Nicola Cluckie, Home Economics teacher, for her enthusiastic and tireless support of the event. 

The competition was judged by chef Paul Wilkinson of the Castle Bistro in Kirkcudbright and chef Nick Morris of the Station House Cookery School and Cafe also in the town.

The judges were both enormously impressed by the dishes produced by the students. They commented that their meals would not have been out of place in many good restaurants. They also praised the Academy Home Economics Dept for continuing to develop the now well established tradition of talented young chefs.

Emma and Maya will now go through to the next round of the competition . the Rotary 1020 Area Finals being held at Kirkcudbright Academy on Thurs 16th November. This stage  is then followed hopefully, by participation in the District, Regional and finally the National competitions.

In addition to the prizes awarded to them on the day, Emma and Maya will now also get the opportunity to spend the day working with the Development Chef in the kitchen at Castle MacLellan Foods.

Congratulations to all those who took part

Rotary Young Chef Area Final

On Thursday 16th November Emma Craig of S6 gained first place in the Rotary Young Chef Area Final competition, organized jointly by the Rotary Club of Kirkcudbright and Kirkcudbright Academy.

Six senior pupils participated in the competition : Emma Craig and Maya Johnston from Kirkcudbright Academy, Rhonwen Patterson from Moffat Academy, Connor Frame from Lockerbie Academy, Beth Taylor and Ryan Napper from Annan Academy.

The competitors each prepared and cooked a two course meal for two, using local ingredients where possible, all for under £10 per pupil paid to them by Rotary, who also provided cash prizes for the winners. Castle MacLellan Foods Limited donated two superb recipe books to the winner and runner up.

Emma's winning menu was, Chicken breast stuffed with haggis served on a bed of savoury cabbage, fondant potatoes, served with a Drambuie sauce. Dessert was : Chocolate Fondant served with homemade ice cream. 

Maya Johnston also of Kirkcudbright Academy was awarded Runner Up, With Beth Taylor of Annan Academy winning Best Table Setting. 

The Rotary Young Chef competition was designed to give young people the chance to show off their creative culinary talents to promote healthy eating and to learn important life skills. The young chefs are all judged on their healthy menus, planning and organisational skills and of course the taste and presentation of the final dishes. 

The prizes were presented by Rotarys Area Assistant Governor South West, Mr Keith Bruce. 

As in previous years, Rotary has worked closely with the Home Economics Dept at Kirkcudbright Academy and particular thanks go to Isla Porteous Home Economics teacher for her enthusiastic support of the event. 

The competition was judged by local chefs Tom Kirkpatrick and Jimmy Harvey, who were enormously impressed by the dishes produced by all the competitors. They commented that their meals would not have been out of place in many good restaurants. 

Emma and Maya will now go through to the District Final held at Livingston in February 2018. This stage is then followed hopefully by participation in the Regional and National competitions. 

Congratulations to all those who took part.