Karen shares this latest news from Sandown Bay Academy. Ed
Ellie Brackenbury and Emily Saneha, students at Sandown Bay Academy, have won the 2017 Create and Cook Competition.
The 14-year-old duo fought off stiff opposition from their Hampshire and Sussex rivals at the regional cookery competition final, held at Newlyns Cookery School near Hook in Hampshire. Over 50 entries were received from over the South of England.
The girls were selected as one of four pairs of children that were successful to get to the Southern Regional Final.
Keep it local
Their challenge was to design and cook a two-course meal using as many local ingredients as possible.
Their winning menu was:
Main: Tagliatelle with chicken, bacon and wild mushroom sauce, with a side of mixed leaf salad with Gallybagger crisps.
Desert: Lemon and raspberry Mille feuille with a raspberry coulis, lemon biscuit crumb, a popping candy chocolate spoon and a quenelle of vanilla cream.
Excellent teamwork
Winners Ellie and Emily were praised by the judges for excellent teamwork and for showing more culinary skill than any of the other teams.
Jane Devonshire, winner of Masterchef 2016, fed back to the girls and presented their prize. She said,
“The pasta was lovely and soft and thin and the chicken so juicy and tender. The pastry was exceptional, crumbly, flaky and just beautiful. I was inspired by your attention to detail.”
The girls won £100 for their food technology department and the fit2cook trophy.
Max Workman (aged 16) in Year 11 at Sandown Bay Academy acted as a mentor to the girls. He said,
“It has been a privilege to work alongside Mrs Olive and mentor the girls to achieve their best in the competition.”
Mrs Olive, Leader of Food and Catering and Assistant Head of Faculty at Sandown Bay Academy, said,
“I am delighted for the girls. They have worked so hard over the last 3 months, practicing and styling their dishes and their win is tantamount to the efforts that they have put in to the competition. They are very worthy winners and I am a very proud Food and Catering Teacher. This is definitely one of my career highs!”
The Academy would like to thank Wightlink for providing free ferry tickets for the girls to get to the competition.
