Year 9’s Freya Reaches National Final of Springboard Future Chef Competition

We are delighted to share the news that Freya in Year 9 recently won the southwest regional final of the Springboard Future Chef competition on Friday at Bridgwater and Taunton College in Somerset.

With an outstanding high score of 41/50, Freya ‘smashed it’ and has now qualified for the national final in London in March.

To add to Freya’s success, the Lead Judge said her standard was better than some chefs twice her age and the chicken main-course was faultless for presentation, seasoning, cooking and skills displayed.

The dish she prepared was:
Mains:

  • Boudin of chicken breast, carrot puree, roasted onion,
  • Smoked brown nut butter mash, chicken jus, tarragon oil,
  • Watercress, chicken skin crumb

Dessert:

  • Yogurt pannacotta, rhubarb, ginger shortbread,
  • Red vein sorrel

Freya explained the format of the competition and said:

“The competition organisers send you a list of ingredients one week in advance. You are then given one week to create and perfect a menu and trial your recipes before the competition.”

Penrice is extremely proud of Freya’s achievements, but the person who has without a doubt tutored her this far is her dad, Craig, who was a Masterchef Professionals contestant in 2019.

Freya said:

“My dad has been inspirational. He has helped me get to where I am today. My dad has been a chef his whole adult life, so I have been cooking since very young. He would take me into kitchens because he knew I really enjoyed cooking. I told him when I was 11 that I wanted to take part in competitions but I had to wait a few years because of Covid-19.”

Craig said:

“She literally smashed it and got 41/50 points! Proud is an understatement. We couldn’t be prouder of her and now she’s off to London for the national final 12th & 13th March 2023!”

As for her time at Penrice, Freya has started her Hospitality & Catering GCSE course this academic year and is also part of the ‘Penrice Kitchen’ Penrice Plus club.

Freya said:

“The catering teachers are so supportive. Last year, Mrs Sainsbury attended my first chef competition to support me and she is full of encouragement.”

Mrs Sainsbury, Teacher of Hospitality & Catering at Penrice, concluded by saying:

“We are very proud and excited about the progress that Freya has made. She has done really well in the previous competitions to get this far, and now we can’t wait to see how she performs in the final in London.”

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