Oaklands hosts Young Chef of the Year competition

College teamed up with the St Albans Food & Drink Festival to launch the inaugural Young Chef of the Year competition

On Saturday 6 October Oaklands College teamed up with the St Albans Food & Drink Festival to launch the inaugural Young Chef of the Year competition. The competition was open to aspiring chefs in years 9 to 11.

Entries poured in for the finale which saw 24 students take part in the cook off held at the Alban Park Campus. Students submitted recipes to compete in the starters, mains and the ever so popular desserts category and were judged by industry professionals including chef and owner of Lussmans St Albans, Andrei Lussman, Herts Advertiser food writer Becky Alexander and the College’s own resident chefs Mark Sharples and Kevin Speed.

The competition attracted students from the local area to further afield including Ware, New Southgate and Hitchin. The young chef’s brought along supporters including teachers from their schools, family members and friends.

Taste buds were tantalised by spices and sweet flavours throughout the day and there was a large array of cheers when the winners were announced and presented with their £100 cheque prize.

The standard of the competition was astounding, with Andrei Lussman comparing some flavours to that of Michelin star standard.

The College would like to warmly congratulate all of the young chefs that took part and the following winners:

Starter – Sam Bailey

Main – Zoe Antoniou

Dessert – Sadie Allan-Kerwin

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