Over 100 guests from across West Berkshire gathered at Sheepdrove Eco Conference Centre on 22nd March to celebrate the success of 24 young chefs from local schools.
The evening marked the culmination of The ‘S’ Word, a competition sponsored by Sheepdrove Organic Farm to encourage students to enjoy cooking with local, seasonal produce. The competition, organised by the Education Business Partnership, has seen over 150 students from six West Berkshire schools take part. Two winning teams from each school joined Suzanne Wintle, Head Chef at Sheepdrove, to have a look around the farm and then work in the kitchens to produce a delicious array of canapés for the assembled guests.
Harriet Collins, Event Coordinator at Sheepdrove commented "It was amazing to see the young people embracing this experience and the menus they produced were astounding! We are so proud to be a part of this event and the enjoyment of the students was evident."
As a result of their success in the competition, two students have decided to change their GCSE options to include Food Technology. Working together in pairs, the students were required to plan their menu, source their ingredients and cook against the clock in their school heats. The winning dishes included Game Pie and Ginger and Rhubarb Parkin with Sweet Vanilla Cream.
Cheryl Wheeler, teacher at The Clere School in Burghclere, had a fantastic response from the students “The ‘S’ Word is a thoroughly enjoyable and exciting experience. Pupils were enthusiastic and engaged from the start. We had over 100 entries from a school with only 700 pupils. We hope it will become an annual event”.
For further details contact Liz Palmer on 01635 279907 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 01635 279907 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Fax 01635 279915, email lizp@ebpwb.co.uk
www.ebpwb.co.uk
Editor’s Note: EBP West Berkshire is a local charity which develops and promotes effective and lasting links between education and business
