Now she’s cooking

The Future Chef competition was open to 12-16 year olds across Northern Ireland and gives them an opportunity to show off their culinary skills.

Along with seven other finalists, Grace had the challenge of preparing a two course meal on a budget of £8, which was then inspected by the panel of local celebrity judges, including Tony O’Neill, from The Merchant Hotel who said ‘the standard of all the competitors was phenomenal, today we have seen skills and techniques that you would only expect to see in a professional kitchen.’

The Future Chef competition is now in its 12th year and gives almost 8000 students across the UK the chance to experience the real world of the professional kitchen. Participants also get opportunities to be involved in work placements and mentoring from professionals within the catering industry.

Michelle McCarthy lecturer in Hospitality and Catering at SERC said “The standard of food prepared was very high and the judges were most impressed with the tasty dishes they sampled.”