Springboard’s national cooking programme, FutureChef, returns for another series of exciting heats, aimed at finding the country’s next up-and-coming culinary star. The programme offers the chance for 12-16 year olds to learn about the basics of cooking from industry professionals as well as the chance to take part in a national cooking competition.
FutureChef is divided into four heats, in which competitors strive to progress to the next level, with hopes of winning in the Nationals. The four stages are comprised of school, local, regional and national levels – all with different challenges that must be conquered to progress to the next stage. The school heats & local finals are now underway, with the regional finals starting soon, and the national final taking place on 16th March 2020.
With over 600 schools currently participating, the competition will go from 14,000 students down to approximately 900 in the local heats, and then just 100 in the regionals, until the final 12 undefeated competitors will take part in the national final at Westminster Kingsway College. The final will be judged by industry standard Chefs – previous judges include Bryan Turner OBE, Rick Stein, Adam Handling and Ruth Hansom.
Last year the competition was won by Jessica Mitchell from The High School of Glasgow, who impressed judges with her chicken breast with butternut squash, confit chicken leg and fondant potato, followed by an apple and frangipane tart with a vanilla pod parfait and caramelised apple. As her prize for winning the competition, Jessica was taken to the Henley Royal Regatta to work with Sodexo Executive chefs while enjoying two nights’ hotel accommodation, afternoon tea and an evening meal. Since winning FutureChef, Jessica has seized every opportunity that has come her way, including recently cooking for Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon at her residence of Bute House.
The competitions are supported by a range of sponsors, including Hilton, The Savoy Educational Trust, Nestlé Professional, Sodexo, HIT Training, BaxterStorey, Compass Group, Bidfood, The Worshipful Company of Cooks and more.
Anne Pierce, the CEO of the Springboard Charity, said, “FutureChef supports the food curriculum in schools and provides a pipeline of culinary talent into the vibrant hospitality industry. The FutureChef competition celebrates young culinary talent and inspires them to enter the exciting expanding world of hospitality.”
FutureChef now has several high-profile Chefs behind it; Michel Roux Jr praises the programme, saying that “FutureChef is exactly what the industry requires to remedy the growing need for new talent by inspiring the next generation of chefs.”
Clare Smyth, FutureChef Champion, said: “It’s imperative to support programmes such as FutureChef that not only teach young people about food, nutrition and cooking, but also inspire them to consider a future career in hospitality.”
Multi-Michelin star Chef Tom Kerridge also endorses the programme -“Having worked in hospitality for most of my life, working my way up through a variety of different chef roles, the cause behind FutureChef is one very close to my heart.”
Stay tuned to find out more about this year’s FutureChef competition by following us at @SB_FutureChef on Twitter.
If you would like to get involved with FutureChef next year, as either a mentor, a teacher, a student or anything else, please get in touch with [email protected] or go to https://futurechef.uk.net/