Cooking Up a Storm
Our Year 5 MasterCook Competition has been bursting with delectable cuisine and talent!
The cooking competition comprised of three cook-offs, where the budding chefs prepared a well-practised dish from home. All of which were marked on skill, presentation, organisation, taste and texture.
Our Year 5 boys all demonstrated that they were not only confident within their cooking abilities, but had a real passion for it too. The judging panel – Mr Baker, Mrs Olhausen and Mrs Slatford – were delighted to taste a range of delicious cuisine. They were blown away with the calibre of dishes, it was a tough decision selecting contestants to move onto the final round.
The cook-off finalists stood out from the competition for their creative flair and inspiration with their cuisine, as well as the obvious hard work that had gone on at home to perfect each dish. The finalist were: Robert F, Ayan B, Sammy M, George T, Aleem-Hassan F, Krishi K, Thomas L, Alfie S, Oliver C, Sebastian S, Henry J and Rocky D.
In the final round, these boys prepared the same dish as previously, but this time with Laurie Gear, Chef Patron at Michelin-starred restaurant ‘Artichoke’ in Old Amersham, supporting and judging the event. Laurie has kindly devoted his time to our annual MasterCook Competition since the very beginning, so he knew exactly what to look out for in the winning platter. On top of being our star judge, he also gave the boys important feedback throughout the process to really elevate their cooking skills and inspire them to develop their passion further.
Kim Rowland, our Head of Cooking and Nutrition at The Beacon and recently appointed Subject Advisor at IAPS, also carefully tasted each boy’s dish. After some deliberation between the two judges, they came to an agreement with the scores per category. In third place, came Oliver C with his tasty sweet chilli meatballs. In second place, with what was described by Laurie Gear as a “restaurant worthy” classic, was Sebastian S with his gorgeous rich sticky toffee pudding. Awarded first place, with a divine fish pie, was Robert F. Despite it being regarded as a fairly simple dish to make, Robert added his own personal twist and presented it beautifully. The taste and texture wowed both of the judges.
Congratulations to all those that took part in this year’s successful Year 5 MasterCook Competition! We saw a variety of impressive dishes in each and every round, as well as a huge improvement in all the boys skills and confidence. Fantastic work, boys!
