Students face pressure cooking in contest final
A talented trio from Ayrshire College have made it through to the Country Range Student Chef Challenge final.
Iona Duncan, Agnieszka Dudko and Katarzyna Hospodarewska, tutored by Ann- Marie Farr, will cook off against seven other colleges from around the UK on March 15 at food, drink and hospitality show Scothot.
The team will have to recreate their healthy gourmet fine dining menu, which features a starter of mushroom consomme, chai seed dumplings, pickled mushrooms, textures of onion and broccoli.
The main course is guinea fowl, crispy black pudding, braised fennel, carrot and orange puree and potato boulangere.
And the dessert is pistachio, lime and coconut cake with coconut sorbet, passion fruit jelly and compressed mango.
Scothot runs from March 15 to 16 at the SECC in Glasgow and is also home to the Scottish Culinary Championships so it will be a high- pressured experience for the team, especially with the crowds watching.
If they win the Ayrshire chefs will work with the Craft Guild of Chefs to cater for over 1000 guests at their annual awards.
The semi- final took place at City of Glasgow College on February 10. Each team had 1 ½ hours to create and plate a three- course menu.
The vegetarian starter had to contain at least one super grain, such as amaranth, chia seeds, freekeh or quinoa
A main course could be meat or fish but must be centred around imaginative healthy cooking techniques.
The dessert should contain fruit and not too much butter or cream.
Competition manager Emma Holden said: “It was an incredible day and enthralling viewing with some incredible skills, techniques and creativity on show.
“A huge congratulations to Ayrshire on some spectacular dishes and on progressing to the final.
“We look forward to seeing them at Scothot.”
Head judge Chris Basten said: “The Ayrshire team impressed throughout with their professional, tidy attitude and well thought- out menu.
“It’s never easy cooking under competition conditions but they did their menu and the ingredients justice, offering fantastic flavours, colours and textures.”
The annual Country Range Student Chef Challenge, which is run in partnership with the Craft Guild of Chefs, is a chance for full- time hospitality and catering students to showcase their culinary prowess and creativity under intense pressure situations.
Country Range offers over 850 products for professional caterers, covering grocery, chilled, frozen and non- food.
The team impressed throughout with their menu head judge