March 13th, 2015
We hosted its first ever ‘Eat My Words’ competition this week, inspiring school children to serve up a literary feast.
The competition, sponsored by the Hilton Liverpool and with crockery provided by Churchills, combined the art of words with the science of food with the aim of improving literacy and motivating budding chefs. The finals took place on Thursday 12th March at our state of the art L20 Hotel School kitchens.
Years 10 and 11 pupils from schools across Merseyside were invited to enter Eat My Words by planning a menu of three dishes then submitting an article describing their dishes and the costing for the ingredients. Only the best written entries were selected to cook in the final and eight pupils from Archbishop Blanch, St Ambrose Barlow and Hugh Baird’s 14-16 College, went head to head in the professional kitchens.
Judges included Hilton Liverpool Chef De Partie Chris Todd and Adam Franklin of the Liverpool Yacht Club who said:
“The L20 Hotel School is an innovative and professional environment where our students gain the skills and knowledge they need to be successful in the hospitality industry. With state of the art kitchens, the new L20 Restaurant and teaching staff with wide ranging industry expertise, we were keen to give local school children the chance to be inspired by this exciting environment. We encouraged them to be creative both in their writing and their cooking and we’ve been very impressed with the results we’ve seen on their plates today.”
Prizes were awarded for the best starter, main course and dessert, with each winning a trophy and gaining valuable feedback from the judges. The Best Starter winner was Mary Hubbard from Archbishop Blanch High School with her dish of Goat’s Cheese with Pear and Rocket and a Honey glaze. Best Main also went to Mary for her dish of Lamb on a Celeriac Mash which was commended for its presentation as well as taste. Billy Maher from St Ambrose Barlow took home the prize for Best Desert with a sensational Churros with a Chocolate Dipping Sauce dish.
The judging panel also had the difficult task of choosing an overall winner on the day and this went to Billy Maher from St Ambrose Barlow. The judges commended his dishes and menu structure for its textures, blends of tastes, use of seasoning and the manner in which each dish complimented each other perfectly. Billy was also commended for his work ethic, cleanliness, his coolness under pressure and his efficiency in the kitchen.
As part of the prize, Billy will now return to the L20 Hotel School kitchens in April as acting Head Chef, recreating his winning dishes for a restaurant full of invited guests and VIPs, including his family and friends.
The competition was supported by Churchills who provided all of the crockery, as well as Hilton Liverpool who also donated an overnight stay for the teacher who nominated the winning chef.
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