Education, Events & Entertainment | Posted on June 25th, 2024 | return to news
Lytchett Minster lad wins title of Dorset Junior Chef of the Year
Harry Mason, a 12-year-old aspiring chef, was the youngest competitor in the South West Chef of the Year competition.
Aspiring young chef Harry Mason has won the title of Dorset Junior Chef of the Year 2024 in this year’s South West Chef of the Year competition.
The 12-year-old is a student at Lytchett Minster School near Poole. He was the youngest participant in the final at Weymouth College, where he competed against three other aspiring chefs: Florence, 15, and Lucia, also 15, both from Clayesmore School, Blandford Forum and Rose, 14, from Gillingham Secondary School.
Harry’s dish of Dorset fillet of beef with Blue Vinny sauce, pommes Anna, burnt Roscoff onions and asparagus was judged to be the best of the group. Harry will now go forward to compete in the final against the winners of five other county competitions on 5 October.
The overall winner of South West Junior Chef of the Year will be offered work experience with Michelin-starred chef David Everitt-Matthias at his Cheltenham restaurant Le Champignon Sauvage.
And thanks to a partnership with Springboard FutureChef, all six county finalists will get the opportunity to go to the FutureChef regional final in January 2025, bypassing the local rounds of the competition, to compete for a place in the FutureChef national final.
The South West Chef of the Year Competition is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. It has categories for junior chefs, home cooks, professional, young professional and student/apprentice chefs, and invites entries from Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.
Competition co-founder, chef Michael Caines MBE DL, who is patron at Lympstone Manor in Devon, said the standard of cooking in the Junior finals continued to improve year-on-year.
He said: “I’m constantly impressed by the standard of cooking demonstrated by these young chefs. They have taken the competition brief and skilfully created some excellent and flavoursome dishes. It is a very well-deserved win for Harry, whose use of regional ingredients was excellent.
“Developing new talent remains one of our key drivers with this competition and it’s gratifying to see many of our previous young winners go on to have successful careers in the catering industry.”
He added: “We are committed to promoting culinary excellence, nurturing talent, and championing the vibrant food culture of the South West.”
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