The 14th CBEBP Young Chef Final took place on Monday 7th March 2011 at The Thames Valley University, Reading.
Hannah and Ellen Roberts (KS3) and Charlotte Weekly and Sasha Forster (KS4/5) won their heats in December 2010 to secure their place in the final against six other pairs in each age group from the winning schools from the Wokingham and Reading Area. The Central Berkshire Business Education Partnership had organised the competition and the judges were all head chefs from local restaurants. (Colin Robson-Wright from The New Mill at Eversley, David Cavalier from Charlton House and Robert Spencer from The London Street Brasserie, Reading.)
Ellen and Hannah Roberts won the competition at KS3 level. Their menu was vegetable patch soup with flowerpot bread and their main course was Le Jardin de le mer (seafood risotto). The judges said that Ellen and Hannah were the clear winners and had only lost two marks out of 180! The girls were presented with catering equipment supplied by John Lewis and a day in the kitchens with Robert Spencer and his team followed by a meal for four in the Brasserie. Colin Robson-Wright also presented them with a voucher for a meal for four at the New Mill restaurant. They were so impressed with their creations that they invited them to come back in the evening to compete with the KS4/5 finalists for the ‘Most Creative Chef’ prize
In the afternoon, Charlotte and Sasha cooked roasted butternut squash, farmhouse quiche with salad and zingy lemon cupcakes with lemon and lime frosting. Although they weren’t placed in the top three, the judges praised their pastry and flavours for the entire meal.
The judges later announced that Ellen and Hannah had also won the ‘Most Creative Chef’ prize. This is a fantastic achievement as no one has ever won both prizes before. The judges said Hannah and Ellen’s performance was the best they had ever seen in the 14 year history of the competition!