Two students at Stamford School, George and Matthew Worthington, have progressed through the first rounds of the Rotary Young Chef Competition and Junior Bake-Off, respectively.George, Year 9, was crowned 'District Champion' of the Rotary Young Chef competition earlier this year, with the following rounds of the competition unfortunately having to be cancelled due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Matthew, also Year 9, progressed through the first stages of the Junior Bake-Off, participating in rounds virtually using video calls, and just narrowly missing out on a place in 'the tent'.They have both shared their experiences with us, you can read George's experience below, or Matthew's experience here.
Rotary Young Chef Competition
The national 'Rotary Young Chef' competition comprises of four rounds (area, district, regional and national) and encourages young people to learn to cook healthy, balanced meals, develop their food presentation skills, consider food hygiene issues and strengthen their organisational skills, planning skills and ability to work under pressure.George won the area district rounds, with the latter being held in Peterborough where aged 13, George was one of the youngest competitors, competing against some students as old as 17. Despite many of the other entrants having competed many times before, George surprised the group to win the competition with his Moroccan themed menu comprising of chickpea stuffed sweet potatoes, vegetable tagine and a pear sticky toffee pudding served with vegan custard and mint tea. One Rotary Club member commented that: "George had been so clam throughout, polite, friendly and a lovely young man" and that "he was her winner, regardless of the outcome!".[gallery size="medium" link="none" ids="https://www.stamfordschools.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/George-W-Rotary-Young-Chef-Competition-_0004_district-final-1.jpg|Chickpea stuffed sweet potatoes,https://www.stamfordschools.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/George-W-Rotary-Young-Chef-Competition-_0002_district-final.jpg|Vegetable Tagine ,https://www.stamfordschools.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/George-W-Rotary-Young-Chef-Competition-_0003_district-final-2.jpg|Pear sticky toffee pudding served with vegan custard and mint tea"]On his performance in the competition, George said: "The competition was fun and a great experience, the people from the rotary club were all lovely and helpful."
George had been preparing for the regional final, and had spent an evening with Masterchef quarter finalist 2018, Simon Spooner. Simon kindly ran through George's menu with him offering him advice and tips whilst they made the meal together. George commented how much he enjoyed the evening, and how Simon has helped him with gaining the confidence to believe in his cooking.
George and Matthew's mother, Mrs T Worthington, Reception teacher at Stamford Junior School, said: "Both of my boys have been truly inspired by taking Food Tech at school. Mrs Hawkins has been a major support throughout both of my boys successes, she is a real credit to the school. The boys say ‘she is an amazing and inspiring teacher’, and both boys are excited to be continuing to take GCSE Food Tech next year."Read Matthew's experience in the Junior Bake-Off
here, or read more about George's Rotary Young Chef Competition,
here.
