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A 'rustic but refined' Cottage Pie dish has put Newtownhamilton High School pupil, Faith Belshaw into the Northern Ireland finals of Springboard’s FutureChef competition, supported by Henderson Foodservice.
Faith competed at her regional heat where she and her peers were under the scrutiny of competition mentor and Henderson Foodservice Business Development Chef, Geoff Baird, and professional chef and judge Colleen Lennon, who method-checked and taste-tested the students’ cooking to crown Kristen the winner. Colleen will now mentor Faith as she prepares for the Northern Ireland Finals in February.
Geoff Baird says Faith’s winning dish, cottage pie had everything needed to help progress Faith to the next stage of the competition.
“Faith’s dish was rustic but refined, a plate full of comfort that delivered on flavour and presentation. We were all really impressed with the way Faith worked throughout the morning, and was able to deliver several plates of her dish to our judges on the day with minimal waste.
“I’ve been privileged to be part of the mentoring team of Chefs for the FutureChef competition in Northern Ireland, and the students have been so eager to learn everything from preparation, menu design and how to work in a kitchen as well as their options for a career in hospitality and expanding their skills with Springboard’s programmes to increase their employability.”
FutureChef is Springboard’s flagship educational programme which sits alongside a wide range of employability programmes designed for young people to help build their employability and soft skills, while giving them the confidence to kickstart a career in hospitality.
As part of its mission to nurture young talent and promote hospitality as a great place to work, Springboard is aiming to get 10,000 young people trained, ready and into work by December 2022 through its Springboard to 2022 initiative.
Caitriona Lennox, Northern Ireland Manager at Springboard added; “Faith is such a worthy finalist and really wowed our judges with her work and passion for delivering a great plate of food. All young chefs competing in our regional heats have been a joy to watch in the kitchen, and see their ideas come to life.
“We are wishing Faith all the best of luck at our Northern Ireland finals in February, where, if she wins, could represent Northern Ireland at the UK-wide FutureChef final in London in March.”
It was revealed recently that celebrity chef Jean-Christophe Novelli will be the Head Judge for the Northern Ireland Final of the competition which takes place across the UK.
Throughout the heats, the competitors were introduced to important themes such as sustainability and plant-based and zero-waste cooking. The finalists will be mentored by local professional chefs James Devine, Colleen Lennon, Chris McGowan, John Clark and Chris Bell who each judged a round of the competition’s heats.
Since the FutureChef competition began in 1999, almost 200,000 young people aged 12-16 have taken part and learned how to cook, developing their skills and knowledge with many going on to establish themselves within the industry. Throughout this time, the competition has progressed and developed to form part of the overall FutureChef programme which offers industry links, online resources, module learning, careers advice and guidance, and a suite of teacher resources.
The five finalists will now prepare for the Northern Ireland finals which take place at Belfast Metropolitan College on Thursday 10 February 2022.
