Tesco Battle of the Chefs
Charleston Academy Cook Up a Highland Feast
Aspiring Ainsleys and developing Delias were out in force on Thursday 18th September, as a host of budding young chefs battled it out for the coveted title of Highland Feast Junior Chefs of the Year at the Tesco Battle of the Chefs. The event, which took place in the OneTouch Theatre in Eden Court, and was kindly supported by Tesco, The Highland Council, the Inverness Common Good Fund and Ian MacDonald Insurance & Financial Services, challenged the contestants to an adrenaline fuelled cook-off in which eight participating teams from secondary schools across the Highlands fought against the clock to create innovative yet healthy meals.
Throughout the day, the participants dishes were scrutinized and devoured by the panel of judges, who whittled the number of contestants down from eight teams to two successful finalists.
With such a high standard of cooking, the panel of judges struggled to eliminate contestants. As Donna Knight, Home Economist from Tesco explained, "We were incredibly impressed with the creativity and ambition shown by all the young competitors and felt the level of cooking was outstanding. The contestants had to follow strict criteria with regard to their recipe choice, adhere to a tight budget and were limited to a short time allowance in which to cook their chosen meals. Despite these factors, each team succeeded in producing quality dishes using locally sourced ingredients."
The participating pupils - a mix of 3rd year and 4th year pupils - were from Charleston Academy, Culloden Academy, Dingwall Academy, Fortrose Academy, Inverness High School, Inverness Royal Academy and Tain Royal Academy with the finalists coming from Inverness High School and Charleston Academy. This was a fiercely fought contest with the eventual winners, Caitlin Grainger and Leanne Maitland, hailing from Charleston Academy. Their three course menu over the day consisted of Seared local wood pigeon with chanterelles and Black Isle Beetroot vinaigrette, a main course of Rothiemurchus trout with crushed potatoes, watercress and red onion salad and a parsley and lemon crème fraiche, followed by warm poached pear with local wild brambles and heather honey yoghurt.
Caitlin Grainger from the winning team says "We are so pleased to win this event and be crowned Highland Feast Junior Chefs of the Year. We have had great fun planning our recipes and sourcing the local produce for our dishes. We really enjoyed cooking and this event has let us experiment in the kitchen and try out new styles of cooking."
Allan Little, Head chef at Riverhouse Restaurant and supervisory chef for Tesco Battle of the Chefs stated, "It is hoped that by taking part in this event, the pupils have been educated on the value of utilising the produce around them. Our aim is to keep these youngsters interested in fine produce and quality cooking as they are the consumers and producers of the future".