DO STUDENT CHEFS IN THE NORTH WEST MAKE THE BEST POTATO DISHES IN BRITAIN?

CALLING all student chefs in the North West!

Can you cook an award winning potato dish?

Do you think you could be in with a chance of winning a national competition and put your college or university on the map?

Then make sure you enter the next Great Potato Challenge.

Open exclusively to students studying for a catering qualification, the competition sets out to find up-and-coming chefs that can prove their prowess in the kitchen with one of the country’s most versatile and nutritional ingredients – the potato!

Maybe you’ve created a potato dish at college or university that has been awarded top marks – or perhaps you’ve dreamt up a potato recipe to showcase the best produce from your region? Whatever your motivation, if you are a full or part time student at college or university and studying for a catering qualification, then Potato Council wants to hear from you!

To be in with a chance of winning the competition, you simply need to come up with an innovative and tasty, potato-based main course dish which would liven up a pub or restaurant menu, while also demonstrating an understanding of the different varieties of potato and the cooking methods that best suit them.  As well as the opportunity to win the prestigious ‘Great Potato Challenge Champion’ title for 2009, there are also first, second and third place prizes up for grabs to the value of £500, £300 and £200 respectively, plus all shortlisted finalists will receive a seven piece knife set, donated by catering supplier 3663.

Potato Council marketing executive, Heike Kroemer, said:- “The competition is open to students at catering colleges throughout the country, so to reach the final in a national competition would be a great boost for your CV and future career.  This is the fourth year that the Challenge has been running and the standard has improved each year. We’re hoping to see even more innovative and tasty potato dishes from the country’s many budding student chefs in this year’s competition.”

Entry forms for the 2009 competition are available now.

They can be downloaded from potatoesforcaterers.co.uk or call 01865 782227 to be sent a form.

Children cook up Christmas scenes for restaurant’s festive menu...

SCHOOLCHILDREN from St Luke’s primary school in Formby got a chance to wear their ‘art’ on a sleeve of a different kind, thanks to local restaurant, The Gallery Bar and Grill, in Formby Village.

The Gallery’s manager, Steve Rice, approached the school to see if its children would come up with a design for the front cover of the restaurant’s Christmas menu.  Steve said:- “We were inundated with some really great pictures that sum up this really wonderful time of the year.

It was a really hard choice and in the end we decided to go for 3 winners.”

Emma Walsh, 9, Fraser Goodwin, 10, and Lily Horricks, 8, all from Formby will be the lucky recipients of Toys R Us vouchers, and their respective families will also be treated to a meal at the restaurant too. 

Emma created a selection of Christmas images, Fraser produced a picture of Santa going head 1st down a chimney, while Lilly drew a Christmas tree in a festive picture frame. 

For Emma it was an extra special treat as her piece of artwork will be the one that sits in pride of place on the menu at The Gallery’s restaurants in Halsall Lane, Formby, and Allerton Road, Liverpool.

Steve concluded:- “We’ll be displaying each of the children’s work of art in the restaurant because it will be great for our customers to see how much hard work they put into coming up with these fantastic pictures.”