Search is on for top local young cooks

Search is on for top local young cooks

A cookery competition championing New Forest and Hampshire produce and aimed at discovering new young talent was launched on 29th Nov 2013 at THE PIG hotel in Brockenhurst to local secondary schools.

The 2014 Create and Cook Competition invites all 12-14 year olds to design a two course menu using as much New Forest and Hampshire produce as possible. Run by fit2cook food education and sponsored by The Southern Co-operative, the competition wants to encourage young cooks to discover the fantastic local ingredients grown around them and be as creative as possible in their menus.

The launch was hosted by chef James Golding from THE PIG Hotel. James is really keen for young cooks to engage with the amazing food produce the New Forest has to offer, 'Creating menus using local ingredients is what we do at THE PIG, we are so lucky to have so much fantastic meat, cheese and vegetables produced locally. I really hope the young cooks will take up this challenge to get out there to discover and cook with our wealth of local food. It is a really exciting opportunity for them'.

As well as having fun creating local menus and getting involved in some competitive cooking there is another challenge open to young cooks as Min Raisman from fit2cook food education and organiser of the competition explains, 'I am delighted that top chefs like James Golding are keen to support our competition. They are passionate about getting the next generation to care about food but also keen to help with work experience and jobs. A few of our past finalists already have jobs in local restaurants and hotels so entering a competition like ours can really open doors to the future career.'

To enter the 2014 Create and Cook Competition, young cooks have to be in years 8 or 9, aged 12 -14, and they enter in pairs through their school food technology department. The closing date is Friday 28th March 2014. The top New Forest and Hampshire young cooks will then be chosen to cook their menus in front of a panel of judges including James Golding at Highbury College in Portsmouth in May 2014. The winning teams will go on to a Regional Final against West Sussex and Isle of Wight schools in June. The overall 2014 Create and Cook Competition winners will scoop the fit2cook trophy and £1,000 for their school food technology department.

The Hampshire Create and Cook Competition is sponsored by The Southern Co-operative and supported by New Forest Marque, THE PIG hotel, Lainston House Hotel, Hampshire Fare, Hampshire Farmers Markets and Highbury College. For more information about the competition go to the website link below.

There will be a Winchester schools competition launch on 17th January, if your school is interested in attending contact Min Raisman, min@fit2cook.co.uk

Image from New Forest launch: Emily Grice and Kara Saunders from Applemore Technology College, James Golding, Head Chef at The Pig, Lucy Avison from the Southern Co-operative and Min Raisman from fit2cook food education.

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