Claire Dean from Wallands Primary School came out on top in the East Sussex heat of the national competition organised by the Local Authority Caterers Association (LACA) and will now go on to represent the county in the South East heat of the competition next month (February 2010).
Locally the competition was run by Chartwells, the East Sussex school meals contractor.
Councillor David Elkin, the County Council's Lead Member for Learning and School Effectiveness said: “School meals are a world away from the dinners we used to have to endure when I was at school. They are nutritious, healthy and, as I can vouch from my own experience recently, extremely tasty. They can also be an important part of a child's day and their learning.”
“The standards we set for all our catering staff are very high so Claire has done exceptionally well to win through in this local heat. I would like to wish her the very best of luck as she moves further into the competition.”
Competing against six other school chefs, within just 90 minutes Claire had to cook a two course meal that would appeal to an 11-year-old. The meal had to comply with the Government's nutritional standards and cost no more than £1.25 per head.
And it was her Starry Fish Pie followed by strawberry mousse that most impressed the judges. Those judges included Colin Harvey from Chartwells, Andy Barlow a top chef from Glyndebourne, the County Council's senior Food Advisory Manager Peter Holman, and some young people.
Claire said: “Obviously I am delighted to have won. I'm really looking forward to the next heat but it's obviously with a bit of trepidation. I just have to hope now that my fish pie recipe is good enough to take me further!”
She added that pupils at Wallands had been proud of her win in the East Sussex heat. “Yes, everyone was really pleased and it's good news for the school. It's also good for school meals – the higher profile we can get for school dinners the better.”
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