Three high school teams came together at Argyll College UHI’s Oban centre yesterday for a “cook off”.
The teams were competing in the final of the 2016 Field to Fork competition.
Judges were impressed with the creativity of the menus and the level of culinary skills exhibited by all the teams but ultimately Tobermory 1 were announced as winners and received £100 for their school as well as prestigious trophy.
The competition, which is being held as part of Argyll Enterprise Week, has been designed to encourage senior school pupils to explore the local food and hospitality industries. Two teams from Tobermory High School and one from Helensburgh Academy prepared their two course local food menus for the judging panel in the college’s professional training kitchen.
Winning team members were Torran Mealand, Fraser Mitchell and Gosha Rybczynska who served up Mull smoked haddock with a parsley sauce and Glengorm onion mash, followed by individual Glengorm carrot cakes topped with Isle of Mull crowdie icing.
Teams were judged on their creative use of local food and their approach to seasonal ingredients, as well as the quality and presentation of their finished dishes.
Guest judge, Shaun Squires, head chef of The Manor House Hotel, Oban said: “All the teams did really well and produced dishes which had balanced flavours and showed high levels of skill. The result was extremely close and judging was very difficult.”
University of the Highlands and Islands regional skills group project manager, Wilma Brown said: “This has been a great way of introducing young people to issues of sustainability and the importance of locally produced food to our region’s economy. The teams showed a very good understanding of some of the complex issues surrounding the Scottish Food System.”
