Held at New Lanarkshire College, Motherwell, the opening heat of the 2015 competition saw student chefs from across Scotland and Northern England compete against each other to net their place at the finals in Grimsby later this year.
The nine teams of young chefs were tasked with preparing and presenting three appetising dishes comprising of a starter using salmon and/or haddock fillets, an intermediate course using whole sea bass and/or mackerel and a main course using cod and/or pollack fillets.
Twenty-six year old Hospitality student, Anne Manson commented, “When our lecturer Chris Watson first approached the class about the competition we each submitted our own individual menus, which he then narrowed down to four before selecting Paul and I as a team.
“The first challenge was coming up with a collaborative menu; something that we were both happy with and conformable about producing. We decided to go with the starter I had designed: poached salmon mousse with a samphire, roast tomato and grilled grapefruit salad parmesan tuille and cucumber jelly. The main that Paul designed: lightly spiced sea bass fillets, tomato and caper salsa and buerre blanc bon bon and the intermediate course of: lemon and herb crusted cod, potato risotto, charred leeks and seared girolles, candied beetroot and chicken reduction which was a combined effort.
“I love food and I love cooking but as novice in the kitchen, especially a professional kitchen I was apprehensive about the competition.
“On the actual day of the competition I was terrified but as soon as that clock starting ticking I forgot all about my nerves and focused on the challenge ahead.
“I’m delighted to be going through to the finals with Paul. We worked really well as a team and all the hard work and hours of practice have paid off. The icing on the cake was learning that my starter had been awarded first in the ‘best starter of the day’ category – It was a great feeling.
“With the constructive feedback from the judges I’m looking forward to getting back in the kitchen and perfecting the dishes so that we have the best chance of winning 1st place at the finals in June.”
Thirty year old Paul Caldwell from Port Glasgow said, “Having worked as a chef for ten years before deciding to further my studies at college, I’m very familiar with working under pressure.
“Although I’m accustomed to working within a professional kitchen I was still nervous on the day but I knew if we were able to replicate exactly what we had done in rehearsals we would be in with a good chance.
“Although Anne had never worked in a professional kitchen before she did a great job and we worked really well together.
“The standard on the day was pretty high so I was delighted when I heard our names called out as one of the three teams going through to the finals.
"Like Anne I’m keen to get back in the kitchen to start working on improving and perfecting the dishes.”
Hospitality lecturer Chris Watson said, “The students worked extremely hard in the lead up to the competition so I’m delighted that their efforts paid off on the day.
“They did come across some challenges in the practice runs but they worked hard as a team to overcome these issues.
Next stop is Grimsby where they will be up against the best in the UK so for now it’s back to the kitchen to work on perfecting their dishes.”
Keep your eyes peeled to see how the students get on at the finals in Grimsby on the 12 June, where they’ll be competing to win a variety of fantastic prizes including a state of the art Thermomix and £500.