The Hunt For ‘Young Chef 2008’ Continues

Anna Farrell became Filippo Berio's Rotary Young Chef 2007 by producing an immaculate meal at the recent final held at Lutterworth Grammar School. Anna, from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and a 14-year-old student at John Colet School, produced a delicious meal to convince judge Walter Zanré (of Filippo Berio Olive Oil) and his fellow judges from Fifteen Restaurant, Peter Begg and Alberto Conti, that she was the deserved winner.

She also received £250, a trip with her mum to this year’s olive oil harvest in Tuscany, courtesy of Filippo Berio, and a day’s experience at Fifteen, which was founded by Jamie Oliver.

We’re looking for entries of the 2008 final in London now and it’s simple to get involved!

How to Enter

• Contact your local Rotary Club direct and ask them about Young Chef. (To find your nearest club, look on the Rotary website Rotary-ribi.org then search for your local club on the yellow panel on the top right).

• Or simply email your contact details to youngchef@ribi.org

The 2008 final will be held at Westminster Kingsway College in London in April 2008 and feature a prestigious panel of experts and celebrity judges. To enter Young Chef 2008 you must contact your local Rotary Club by 30th September 2007.

How the Competition Works

The competition starts locally, with individual Rotary Clubs (there are 1,845 spanning the UK and Ireland) organising heats at a local venue, such as a school or college. The winners then go on to a District competition, a Regional final and ultimately to the Great Britain and Republic of Ireland final.

The young chefs (all young people of secondary school age can enter) prepare a healthy meal for two people, allowing them to demonstrate their ability to create great food without expensive ingredients and, crucially, to follow the principles of a healthy diet. They have to prepare their food and to display it for the judges, hygienically and at the correct temperature.

The young chefs are then judged on their healthy menu, planning and organisational skills, hygiene, and preparation skills and, of course, the taste and presentation of the final dishes.

Rotary Young Chef is aimed at anyone who enjoys cooking.

As Filippo Berio’s Country Manager, Walter Zanré, explains:

“ Filippo Berio spends a great deal of time promoting the importance of healthy eating and simple cooking. The key reason we wanted to support Young Chef is that it was a truly ‘open’ competition that encouraged all young people to take part.

“As we know only too well at Filippo Berio, great, healthy food doesn’t need to be complicated to cook. With just a few, simple, healthy, ingredients and the right attitude you can create a feast!”

Rotary, Filippo Berio and Fifteen all agreed that the teaching of culinary skills to young people is now sadly lacking.

“How can we expect children to eat well and to grow up with a love of good, healthy food, if we don’t give them any grounding in cooking skills – skills which they could then pass on to others,” states Filippo Berio Marketing Manager, Diana Anderson.

“We are delighted to be supporting Rotary’s efforts and to be the sponsor of Rotary Young Chef 2007 and 2008.”

Peter Begg of Fifteen agrees;

“Everyone at Fifteen believes that young people should be encouraged to learn about food and to how to cook. This competition is a great opportunity to celebrate that and I am looking forward to tasting some wonderful food prepared by these young chefs.”
Rotary organiser and creator of the Young Chef competition, Linda May says;

“Rotary Young Chef could be a stepping stone to a career in the food industry, but this is not the main aim of the competition – it is simply a good way for young people to have fun learning an important life skill.”

To find out more, visit Rotary-ribi.org; Filippoberio.co.uk; Fifteenrestaurant.com.