What better way to judge your standard of your cooking, than to have it tasted by a celebrity chef?
The Sixth Form pupils’ culinary skills were put to the test in the annual House MasterChef competition. From exotic international cuisine to the unwavering British classic of steak and homemade chips, each team of pupils were required to produce two courses for the judges.
After not being able to host the St Lawrence College MasterChef competition for three years (due to Covid-19 restrictions), it was fantastic to have it back in the calendar. If that wasn’t reason enough for excitement, this year was extra special as the school had the honour of having Chetna Makan in attendance. Chetna is a celebrity baker, passionate cook and successful author. She has also been shortlisted for the Guild of Food Writers Awards 2022 for her contributions and work with Waitrose. She took her place on the judging panel alongside the school’s Head of Boarding, Mr Tom Moulton and Modern Languages teacher and foodie, Ms Marion Fourrier.
Once the pupils had planned their dishes, they set off to the local Waitrose to purchase their ingredients. It was important to them that the ingredients were fresh and of the highest quality if they were to be in with a shot of wowing the judges. As they arrived back at school to start their preparations, it was clear from the vast array of ingredients on show, that there would be an assortment of delicious dishes on offer.
The event took place within the Home Economics room, which comprises of multiple kitchen stations – much like the famous televised MasterChef show. Each House was represented during the competition and each team consisted of three pupils from each house, as you can imagine this meant the kitchen was a real hive of activity, heat… and noise!
Mr Tom Moulton, who organises the much-loved annual event, commented: “It was an excellent evening with a really high standard of cooking on display. All participants made a great effort with the presentation and produced some very tasty food. The judges were very impressed with the overall standard and felt that there were a number of dishes which they would have been more than happy with, had they ordered them in a good restaurant. In the end, there had to be winners, and there were three prizes on offer.”
Well done to the overall winners, the girls’ boarding house, Bellerby, who produced a strong main course and dessert. The best main course had to go to the boys’ day house, Deacon, who perfected their Asian-inspired dish. Finally, one of the boys’ boarding houses, Lodge, produced an exquisite chocolate sponge dish, a firm favourite among the judges.
Chetna commented: “Very impressed by the cooking efforts of some very talented kids! Some of the desserts were top notch.”
The gastronomic delights created by the pupils were exceptional and they did both themselves and the school proud.
