Young chefs from southeast England secondary schools have competed in the Springboard’s FutureChef Regional Final which took place at West London College.
The final follows up from when in November 2022, West London College hosted the Springboard FutureChef South East and London regional heats.
The eight teenage chefs had 90 minutes to create their culinary delights twice which included a main and dessert.
Overall winner was 15-year-old Pippa Cooper from Priory School in Lewes who made as a main beetroot infused tortelloni served with fondant butternut squash and chicken broth. For dessert, Pippa made a nutty shortcrust caramelised apple tart with cream.
She said of her win: “It feels very good, I was very surprised, I wasn’t really sure I would win.”
The chefs judging explained what they were looking for in a winner. Chef Andrew Aston said: “Passion, thinking outside of the box and clean flavours. Taste is more important than presentation because if your food tastes good but looks bad, you still have the freedom to fix up the presentation. However, when the presentation is good but the taste is unappealing then that’s all you get.”
Chef Paul Bates added the traits he was looking for in a winner were: “Somebody that is well organised and approaches their work systematically. Also having flair because being different and standing out are great qualities. And taste, it’s essential to taste test their food as they go along.”
Pippa will now go through to the national final of the Springboard FutureChef competition on 13 March 2023.
