8 teen cooks from the Isle of Wight will cook locally inspired dishes for a panel of expert judges in a bid to be crowned the ‘Isle of Wight Champion’ in the regional final of the Create & Cook Competition at Cowes Enterprise College on Wednesday (18th May).
The Isle of Wight final of the Create & Cook Competition, which is run by fit2cook food education and sponsored by The Southern Co-operative, aims to nurture young talent and celebrate local food.
The competition encourages students aged between 13 and 14 to create and cook a two course menu using as many Island sourced ingredients as possible.
Min Raisman from fit2cook food education who runs the Create & Cook Competition said:
“The Isle of Wight has some outstanding produce grown locally and this is an opportunity to show case Isle of Wight food as well as educate the next generation about the importance of buying local.”
The young cooks have extensively researched local ingredients to feature in their dishes and the wonderful menus in the final show real young talent.
The finalists and their menus are:
• Elisabeth Codey and Ellie Richardson, from Carisbrooke College will be serving up a crab and chilli linguine served alongside a dessert of chocolate bomb with home grown strawberries, ice cream and a caramel sauce.
• Nadia Robertson and Kirsty Sciver, from Christ the King College will be cooking chicken stuffed with mozzarella, homemade pesto with sweet potato crisps, asparagus and a chunky tomato salsa; serving up chocolate cupcakes with a raspberry buttercream filling with mini meringues and raspberry coulis for dessert.
• Marc Baker and Jacob Hall, from Cowes Enterprise College will be producing rolled stuffed pork served with potatoes and seasonal vegetables, along with an éclair rhubarb meringue.
• Marley Elliot and Tyler Stride, from Christ the King College will be dishing up pan fried sea bass on a bed of asparagus with saute potatoes and a creamy herby mushroom sauce, followed by a white chocolate and berry cheesecake for dessert.
Kate Hibbert, Local Sourcing Manager for The Southern Co-operative, said:
“The Create & Cook Competition challenges young cooks to think about sustainability and the importance of supporting local farmers and food producers through their ingredient sourcing. My role involves working closely with more than 100 producers across Hampshire, Sussex and Isle of Wight to source the best local produce for our Local Flavours range, and it’s rewarding to see how well these ingredients have been used by our Create and Cook finalists. The standard of finalists this year is extremely high, the judges will certainly have a tough decision trying to decide on a winner!”
Judging the young cooks will be Head Chef from The Little Gloster, Jay Santiago; Director of fit2cook food education, Min Raisman plus Mike Crookes from the The Southern Co-operative Freshwater store.
The winners of the Isle of Wight heat will go on to the Final of the Create & Cook Competition on 21st June at Newlyns Cookery School in Hook, Hampshire. The finalists will then cook against fellow county competition finalists from Sussex and Hampshire schools, aiming to win the 2016 Create & Cook Competition trophy which is currently held by students on the Island from Christ the King College.
To find out more about the Create & Cook Competition, please visit www.fit2cook.co.uk/createandcook.
Photographed: 2015 winners Tessa Crosbie (L) and Jessica Case (R) from Christ the King College
