Sarum Academy chef takes school chef of the year title

In her fourth year of entering, Jennifer impressed the judges with her inclusion of fish, ambitious flavours and her creativity in creating an exciting dish on the small budget allowed per portion.

Not only has she won the title and an invitation to come back as a guest judge next year, but she’s also won £1000.

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Jennifer, who is the school chef at Sarum Academy in Salisbury, won her place in the competition, run by LACA and held in Birmingham, as a Wildcard entry having come a very close runner-up at the South West region heat earlier in the year.

Chefs had just 90 minutes to make two dishes that met strict judges’ briefs around nutrition and cost.

Fantastic effort Jennifer! (Image: LACA)

For her main dish, she cooked ‘Easy like Monday mornay’ - baked pollock with cheese sauce in a potato and spinach case. For dessert, she prepared a rhubarb and custard meringue tart with raspberry coulis.

In addition to competing in the School Chef of the Year competition on Thursday, July 4, Jennifer also competed the day before in the LACA Grab ‘N’ Go competition, where chefs are asked to make a savoury break-time snack in just 45 minutes.

This competition was judged by Michelin-star chef Mark Sargeant and although Jennifer didn’t win, Mark was 'impressed' with the food the three chefs in this competition were able to produce on the budgets they had.

Jennifer said: “I love getting fish into the kids’ food but it’s expensive, so you have to be a little more creative around how you get it in! This dish is a perfect way – a small amount, but they still get their Omega threes.

“I like to present food differently. It's all about colours and textures and something like this fish dish adds interest. It’s more fun than the standard fish and chips.”

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Second place was awarded to Richard Hardy, representing the North East and Scotland region, whist third place was won by Paul Hardy, representing the North West region.

Premier Food’s senior culinary adviser and SCOTY head judge, Louise Wagstaffe said: “Jennifer’s dishes in the competition this week were delicious, full of flavour and absolutely stand-out.

“She came a very close runner-up in the regional heat which is why we awarded her the Wildcard entry, and she has clearly taken on board our feedback.

“Her main was delicious and her dessert was absolute perfection, and the flavours were amazing.

“The skills she showed were very high and producing such a lovely main, a potato case with fish, was a really interesting and creative twist on a fish pie or fish dish, which is genius. It was cooked to perfection and a joy to eat.

“The chefs have all shown such creativity, using the Bisto and Premier Foods ingredients in completely different ways, and meeting the School Food Standards and Eat Well Guide. They’ve demonstrated that even on a budget, it’s possible to serve up delicious healthy meals.”

The SCOTY competition aims to show the high quality of school meals and the contribution they make to the health and wellbeing of children.

The 12 finalists, who had competed at regional heats across the country, were judged on the use of Premier Food and Bisto products, working practices in the kitchen, creativity, appearance, taste and flavour.

They had just an hour and 30 minutes to create four portions of their two-course menu that meet the School Food Standards and Eat Well Guide, with a total food cost of £1.60 per head.