Jennifer Brown becomes first contestant to reach 2023 SCOTY final
The LACA School Chef of the Year competition, which is sponsored by Bisto from Premier Foods, asks chefs to prepare, cook and present four portions of a main course and dessert with a total food cost of £1.60 per head in 90 minutes that meet the School Food Standards and Eat Well Guide.
The LACA School Chef of the Year (SCOTY) is now in its 29th year and has drawn national attention with the annual winners often appearing on TV to showcase school cooking.
Jennifer won the South West regional heat, which was held at Weston College in Weston Super Mare and judged by Louise Wagstaffe of Premier Foods, Sharon Armstrong of LACA UK and Stuart Brereton of MKN UK.
For her main course, Jennifer made a dish called ‘in fine fettle, fish supper’, which featured baked pollock and spinach fishcake, sweet potato fries, crushed minted peas with a tangy curry sauce dip. For dessert Jennifer created golden banoffee profiteroles, Choux buns filled with butterscotch and banana, drizzled with chocolate sauce and banana dust.
LACA chair Brad Pearce, said: “What a fantastic start to the 2023 SCOTY competition. Each year the standard gets higher and higher and its truly exciting to see the talent and skills of school chefs on show.”
The national final will be held at the LACA Main Event on Wednesday 5th and Thursday 6th July at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole. The 2023 winner will receive a £1,000 cash prize, the 2023 LACA School Chef of the Year trophy and an invitation to a calendar of catering industry events.
Sarah Robb, marketing manager at Premier Foods Foodservice, added: “It’s great to see the regional finals get underway and we love this time of year as it gives us chance to shout about all the incredible talent that is out there in the education catering sector.
“With Bisto sponsoring the competition we love to see the innovative ways the chefs are using our products. Congratulations to Jennifer Brown, the first finalist who really impressed the judges today. Good luck to the chefs who are competing over the next few weeks.”
The winner of each of the nine regional finals will receive £100 and advance to the national final alongside two other wildcards. The next regional finals to take place will be the East Midlands, Wales and West Midlands on Wednesday 10th May 2023.
Find out more about the 2022 LACA School Chef of the Year competition and winner here.