MORE than 30 young people from schools across Bournemouth demonstrated their cooking skills during a Masterchef-style competition.

The Yes Chef event, which was sponsored by Harvest Fine Foods and held at The Escoffier Restaurant, based at Bournemouth and Poole College in Lansdowne, featured some of the town’s top aspiring cooks.

Individually, the secondary school students tested their culinary skills against their fellow competitors in the kitchen of the restaurant, as part of the competition, which aimed to inspire and encourage their creativity while learning a skill for life.

Holly Bailey, apprenticeship co-ordinator for catering and hospitality, said: “The students showed real enthusiasm and loved the challenge of working in a professional kitchen.

“We should like to thank Enterprise & Skills Company for organising the event and Harvest Fine Food for their continuing sponsorship.”

The set task involved using a supreme of chicken plus ingredients from the larder, before the skills test, which was kept top secret until the day, which saw the chefs make a baked sponge pudding of their choice.

All dishes created were then presented to a panel of judges which included Phil Clark from Harvest Fine Foods, Matt Budden, executive head chef at The Marriott Hotel, and Barry Dawson, Bournemouth and Poole College’s apprenticeship manager.

Following the annual event, Barry Dawson said: “I was amazed by the high standard of dishes that they created and it really shows that we will be seeing some aspiring young stars in the future.”