Hoping to follow in the footsteps of last year’s winner of the Young Chef of the Year award, James Greatorex who has recently joined Heston Blumenthal restaurant The Fat Duck, three catering students from Chesterfield College have been shortlisted for the prestigious title in the 2016 Chesterfield Food and Drink Awards.
Jordan Elliott (18) from Codnor, Sophie Warren (18) from Bolsover and Josh Clark (17) from Walton, level 2 catering students at Chesterfield College, have all been shortlisted for the Young Chef of the Year Award.
A live ‘cook-off’ involving the three students preparing a main course and a dessert which were tasted and judged by three professional chefs – Adam Warwick, head chef at Blu Bistro on Chatsworth Road, Chris Mapp chef and owner of The Tickled Trout in Barlow and Adam Stockton, head chef at Calabria Cocina on Glumangate, was held recently to decide the winner.
Sophie prepared a cod fish pie on a bed of warm tartar sauce followed by chocolate fondant with spiced pear and Chantilly cream. A nervous, but happy Sophie commented: “It was great to be shortlisted; it was not something I expected. Everything went to plan and I was very pleased with the two dishes that I produced. The competition has really helped my confidence.”
Josh wowed the judges with rack of lamb with summer vegetables followed by gooseberry and custard tart. Josh, who sites Gordon Ramsay and Keith Floyd as his food heroes, added: “It was a great experience. My dad and grandma got me into cooking. Her meat and potato pie is the absolute best; even my dad agrees.”
Jordon, who described the competition as ‘nerve-wracking’, prepared roast rump of lamb and baby lettuce followed by strawberry and black pepper sponge cake for the judges. He said: “I don’t like competitions as I am out of my comfort zone, however I really enjoyed the cooking and learnt a lot of helpful tips from the judges.”
The Rev Patrick Coleman from the Crooked Spire Church (St Mary’s Church) which sponsors the award category also took part in the judging. He said: “I was really interested and excited to see three young people doing such great work. The Church encourages young people on their way through life and the Young Chef of the Year Award is a great foundation for any young chef’s future career.”
The winner of the Young Chef of the Year title will be announced at the glitzy award ceremony at Chesterfield College’s Heart Space building on Wednesday 26 October. This year, the ceremony is being hosted by celebrity cake maker to the stars and royalty Mich Turner MBE who will announce the winners of 12 award categories.
Organised by Destination Chesterfield in association with headline sponsor the Chesterfield College Group, the awards aim to showcase the very best in the town’s thriving food and drink sector.
The College also uses the awards ceremony as a learning exercise for its hospitality students. This year, 50 students from the College will also be catering and silver serving a two course meal to more than 250 people attending the event, working over three days on all areas, including kitchen and front of house. Last year Jordan, Sophie and Josh worked at the awards serving the food. This year, they will get to enjoy the two-course meal prepared, cooked and served to them by their fellow students. Chris Mapp from the Tickled Trout advised them to “make the most of it and enjoy every minute.”
Adam Stockton from Calabria added: “College and work situations are a very different environment and Sophie, Jordan and Josh should be very proud of themselves and what they produced today. They all did extremely well.”
Other supporters of the awards include arvarto, Banner Jones Solicitors, BHP Accountants, Black Eyed Susan, Casa Hotel, Central Technology Ltd, Chesterfield Borough Council, Custom Solar, Derbyshire Times, East Midlands Chamber, Holdsworth Foods, Kier, Jumble Design, Mitchells Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors, MSE Hiller, Peak FM, ra Information Systems and Reflections.
