Kerry students set to cook up a storm

SEVEN students from secondary schools in Killarney, Tralee, Kenmare and Cahersiveen are among the 500 budding chefs from across Munster who will take part in the ‘Apprentice Chef Finale’ on Thursday May 11 at Tralee IT.

Sponsored by Flogas Ireland and Failte Ireland, finalists will enjoy an authentic professional kitchen experience and serve restaurant standard dishes to a panel of judges. The students have been mentored by Kerry chefs Mark Doe and Louise Brosnan. This duo will be supported by nutritional therapist, Susie Cox.

This is the fifth year of the programme which was established by Mark Doe of ‘Just Cooking Cookery School’ in Firies, and Mark Murphy, senior lecturer in Culinary Arts at IT Tralee.

“Since we started the Apprentice Chef, over 2,000 secondary school students have attended workshops and cookery demonstrations,” said co-founder, Mark Doe. “We are continuously impressed by the standard of dishes produced and this inspires us to build on the programme’s success and we will continue in our efforts to take it to national level,” he added. MEET the contestants… Aoife O’Brien from Killarney Community College is inspired by Italian food culture. Aoife researched the foods of Tuscany and has captured these tastes using Irish ingredients. Alanna Loughnane, also from Killarney Community College, sourced her ingredients locally. There is a spice in her dish but all the ingredients complement each other. Niamh McMahon from Mercy Mounthawk is a huge fan of fish. She supports her local fishmonger and the textures and flavours of her dish complement each other. Colaiste NaSceilge students, Tara Riordan and Sophie Graef will be putting their culinary skills to the test. Tara’s baked Hake is a dish with nutritional value, while Sophie’s spicy grilled chicken uses herbs from her own garden. Meanwhile, for Pobalscoil Inbhear Sceine, students, Rachel Whelton and Padraic Randles, stuffed Monkfish and marinated panfried duck will be on the menu.