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Eleven school chefs from across the UK have gathered at the Hilton Birmingham metropole and together they are competing for the coveted title of SCOTY 2022.

The initial heat was held this morning with the first three candidates taking the stand amid the excitement of the LACA Main Event also getting underway.

The first three contestants included:

• Jackie Sweeney, Hewett Academy, Norwich (East of England winner)

• Raheem Morgan, Torridon Primary School (London winner).

• Arkadiusz Aoun Kosiacki, the Bilingual Primary School, Brighton and Hove (Southeast wildcard)

After only 30 minutes they were the first to deliver their Grab & Go dishes, which were scrutinized by the audience as well as the judges.

LACA regional chair, Lynda Mitchell is this year’s Compère commented early on that there were “a lot of interesting flavours coming across the pass.”

Watching carefully was Chartwell’s Culinary Director, Andy Walker who said in his own inimitable style: “Nothing matches the gathering of the culinary clans! LACA is a One Stop for talent, tastes and future trends.”

He wasn’t wrong. Jackie Sweeney’s ‘Grab and Go’ offering, a sweet chili glazed Quorn vegan spiral dog, was designed with the help of students from the Hewett Academy, where Jackie works for the Vertas Group. She said “I liked the idea of a sausage with a lovely crisp outside, The potato on the outside gives a nice texture on a skewer and looks good but not messy.”

This is the style that the young pupils are expecting nowadays, and plant-based foods are on trend.

In the final, the chefs have one hour and 45 minutes to prepare and serve a grab & go savoury snack in addition to a delicious and imaginative main meal, and dessert.

Each contestant must use at least one Quorn product in both the new grab & go item and main course and one Bisto product from a list provided in either the snack or the main course, alongside a 50% fruit-based dessert that should reflect school standards, using one Premier Foods product from a list provided.

The 2021 SCOTY Winner, Robert Chalmers is part of this year’s judging panel. When asked about his last 12 months, he said: “It has been an amazing year. I have been spotted live on stage at the Public Sector Catering Expo, I’ve had the opportunity of preparing videos for YouTube and am looking forward to my work experience trip to Germany. These are great opportunities that await this year’s winner.”

The afternoon session saw three more candidates putting themselves forward.

• Natasha Watts, Crispin Academy, Street (Southwest winner)

• Wendy Lohse, Saltfleet Primary School, Isle of Wight (Southeast winner)

• Tom Armstrong, Shelley College, Huddersfield (Yorkshire & Humber winner)

Maintaining the idea of keeping on trend, Tom Armstrong skillfully matched his Tandoori Quorn & Onion Bhaji and Indian spiced Quorn Cottage Pie, an Indian spiced Quorn cottage pie with crushed Bombay potatoes, butter sauce and greens. Students at Shelley College must be impressed with their food offering.

Chair of Judges, Kate Snow of Quorn Foods said: “Creating delicious and innovative dishes is crucial for getting younger generations excited about eating meat free, which is what we're passionate about at Quorn. We're so happy to be partnering with LACA again and have been once more inspired by all the amazing recipes on show.”

Sarah Robb, foodservice marketing manager at Premier Foods said: “LACA School Chef of the Year is one of the highlights of our calendar as it’s so important that we shine a spotlight on education catering. School chefs put in hours of work to create dishes that not only meet the Government guidelines and strict budgets but most importantly are a big hit with children. It’s such a fantastic competition and one we are very proud to support.”

Now in its 28th year SCOTY is the education catering sector’s ‘premier’ culinary skills competition. The SCOTY champion will receive a £1,000 cash prize, the 2022 LACA School Chef of the Year trophy and an invitation to a calendar of catering industry events. The national second and third place winners will receive £500 and £300, respectively.

Five remaining school chefs will cook today in an effort to win the SCOTY title.