Kids serve up treats for professional chef (From Swindon Advertiser)

Kids serve up treats for professional chef

5:31pm Wednesday 27th June 2012 in News By Emma Dunn

THE heat was on in the kitchen for pupils at The Ridgeway School as they competed to impress a professional chef.

Eighteen Year 8 pupils competed in the final of a competition yesterday in a bid to get their dish made at Heelis, the National Trust headquarters near the Steam museum in Swindon.

Ben Powell was announced as the winner after impressing the two National Trust representatives, including a chef, with his lamb dish with a herb crust and asparagus.

Rosemary Cairns, a tutor at the Wroughton school, said: “They sampled all the dishes and were very impressed with the high standard. Ben’s dish particularly impressed them because the flavour was very good and powerful.

“They were so impressed with the students they said they would probably take a number of the dishes and put them on the menu.

“As a consequence we are going to have their recipe with their photograph displayed at the National Trust.”

Other recipes included gluten free flan with pastry, soups, a chicken dish and variations of cakes, scones and desserts.

About 200 Year 8 students from the school worked on ideas for the competition during their food technology lessons, and the best 18 took part in the final this week.

“They all chose a dish which could either be served in the restaurant, shop or cafe in a National Trust property. There was a lovely array of dishes,” said Rosemary.

“This year we did a Year 8 scheme of work looking at organic food, the Soil Association and we tried to encourage the children to do some gardening.

“The aim over the year was to get them to produce a dish which could be sold by the National Trust. There have been some wonderful creations.

“We weren’t looking for something out of the ordinary but something British with a twist. We wanted it to be of a high standard and they have really taken that on.

“The National Trust have been brilliant. We have not only launched this competition but they have also had some of our students for work experience.”