News

Britain’s top 10 school chefs will come face to face on May 15 to compete for LACA’s School Chef of the Year (SCOTY) 2013 title in what is expected to be a fiercely fought cook off. The Competition is organised annually by the Local Authority Caterers Association (LACA) and is sponsored by MAGGI from Nestlé Professional.

With the last regional final having been completed today (19 March), the final line up of ten school chefs going through to this year’s national final are now known. All of the Finalists are winners from the regional heats, 10 of which have been staged nationwide between January and March.

The event will take place on May 15, once again it is being held at Food Services Wing, Defence Logistics School, Worthy Down near Winchester, Hampshire.

The finalists who come from England, Wales and Scotland, will battle it out for the education catering industry’s top award. They represent the East Midlands; Eastern; London; North East & Scotland; North West; South East; South West; Wales; West Midlands and Yorkshire & Humber.

SCOTY has been organised annually by LACA for nearly two decades and is perhaps even more important now than in previous years.

The competition aims to show the high quality of school meals to parents and the important contribution they can make to not only the health and wellbeing of their children but also their physical and educational attainment.

This annual competition really puts the preparation, cooking, creativity and presentation skills of school chefs to the test. Each entrant is required to produce, in just one and a half hours, a healthy balanced two-course meal comprising of a main course and dessert that would appeal to eleven year olds in school. A maximum of £1.50p is allowed for the cost of a single meal (i.e. main course and dessert) for one child.

With school menus having to reflect popular themes from worldwide cuisine in order to appeal to today’s discerning youngsters, competition sponsor, MAGGI at Nestlé Professional has included an extensive selection of its products in the competition basket to help contestants’ enhance the creativity of their menus.

Products include MAGGI Rich & Rustic Tomato Sauce, MAGGI Bouillons,  MAGGI Original Vegetarian Gravy, MAGGI Mashed Potato Flakes and new MAGGI Liquid Concentrated Fonds, as well as MAGGI Béchamel Sauce, and MAGGI Demi Glace Sauce too.

The contestants are required to incorporate a minimum of two MAGGI products in their main course and any Nestlé product can be used in their dessert.

An exciting line up of highly creative and mouth watering dishes packed with imaginative touches will impress the judges at the national final.

The dishes of many of the finalists feature new twists on traditional British favourites such as Fish and Dips (Salmon Fishcakes with Flatbread, Mango Dip and Peas & Leeks) and Yorkshire Farmer’s Plate (Wensleydale & Yorkshire Ham Tart, Tomato Chutney, Carrot ribbons, Sweet Potato Mash & Green Beans) whilst others have been inspired by European, Oriental or Middle Eastern cuisine.

Desserts too are news spins on fondly remembered British puddings from Red Leicester Baked Apple, Gingerbread & Orange Cheesecake with Coconut Drizzle to Swirl of the Dale (a Rhubarb & Raspberry Custard Roulade) and Blueberry Brioche Pudding (a Bread & Butter Pudding made with Brioche & Blueberries).

Chair of the judging panel for all of the regional finals and the 2013 National Final is Justin Clarke, food development chef for MAGGI at Nestlé Professional. Also on the Judging Panel is a professional local chef judge, an education catering professional (Jacqui Webb, LACA), a leading dietitian (Jasmine Challis, British Dietetic Association), the 2012 LACA School Chef of the Year, Alison Gann from Battle, Sussex and an 11-year-old boy and girl from a local Hampshire school.

Commenting on the standard of craftsmanship and cooking in the competition to date, Justin Clarke, food development chef, Nestlé Professional said: “This is my second year as chair of judges and, again, what an amazing year it has been.

“I love judging this competition and look forward to it because every contestant really wants the title of LACA National School Chef of the Year. Many contestants reappear each year to take up the challenge.

“There’s no doubt that the culinary standard of food, creativity and technical ability has far more imagination than ever before, with many dishes of global influence hitting food trends.”

Anne Bull, LACA Chair says: “It is great news to hear from Justin that the culinary and creative skill of contestants this year has been so high.

“Every year a new precedent is set for the next competition. LACA’s School Chef of the Year continues to represent a highly positive way of communicating the benefits of supporting a high quality school meals service in order to help safeguard the health of the next generation.

“Parents and the wider community should be reassured that our talented front line staff in schools not only prepare tasty, highly creative dishes to tempt the taste buds of discerning children and young people but also nutritious school meals that can make a major contribution towards altering eating habits, improving diets and decreasing obesity levels.”

Adding her comments, head of food at Nestlé Professional, Susan Gregory, said: “As school dinners remain high on the news agenda, LACA School Chef of the Year is an inspiring initiative and an important opportunity to showcase the talent and passion of the people who feed our nation’s children.

“Every year we are impressed by the chefs’ ability to create healthy, nutritious and tasty meals on a limited budget. It is a fantastic achievement to reach the final of the competition and we wish all of the finalists the very best of luck.”

The SCOTY 2013 Final Line-up

East Midlands School Chef of the Year 2013
John Morrey,  Sir Jonathan North Community College, Leicester  (Leicester City Council)

Eastern School Chef of the Year 2013
Tanya Watkin, Woodland Middle Academy School, Flitwick, Beds (C Beds C)

London School Chef of the Year 2013
Dalila Christopher, St Stephens C of E Primary School, Deptford (LB of Lewisham)

North East & Scotland School Chef of the Year 2013
Pamela Jamieson, Cumbrae Primary School, Isle of Cumbrae  (N Ayrshire Council)

North West School Chef of the Year 2013 
Mark Holmes, Abraham Guest Academy, Wigan  (Wigan MBC)

South East School Chef of the Year 2013
Corinne Du Preez, Kings Court First School, Windsor (Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead)

South West School Chef of the Year 2013
Steve Spofford, Worle Community College, Weston-super-Mare (N Somerset CC)

Welsh School Chef of the Year 2013  
Susan Owen Jones, Ysgol Y Dderi Primary School, Lampeter (Ceredigion CC)

West Midlands School Chef of the Year 2013
Isobel Gill, Mobile Primary Cook, Leamington (Warwickshire CC)

Yorks & Humber School Chef of the Year 2013
Joanne Simpson, Reeth Community Primary School, North Yorks (North Yorkshire CC)