East Kilbride Rotary Club
Picture No.1 shows a happy bunch of East Kilbride Rotarians namely left to right John McCafferty, Archie King, Alan Rae, Frank McLuskey, Ray Porrelli, John Cardno and Leslie Irvine enjoying a pre Chef Competition "Cuppa"
Picture No 2 Shows this years contestants from Calderwood High School & Sanderson High school with The Judges Executive Chef Gerry Sharkey from La Bonne Auberge, Chef Paul Devenny from South Lanarkshire College and Rotarian Barry Wood (rear middle) before the competition.Plus Leslie Irvine (back left) and President Ray Porrelli (far right)
Cooking Perfection
Seven pupils from Calderglen and Sanderson High Schools were welcomed on 12 November to the East Kilbride heat of the Rotary Young Chef of the Year competition at South Lanarkshire College by Principal, Stewart McKillop.
The entrants, who had been guided in their preparation for the competition by their teachers Nicole Burns and Fiona McCrae, had to cook and present a balanced healthy two course meal for two within a time of one and a half hours, and a prescribed budget. The preparation was closely watched by the judges,Executive Chef Gerry Sharkey from La Bonne Auberge, Chef Paul Devenny from South Lanarkshire College and Rotarian Barry Wood, who also checked presentation of the meal at the table and finally sampled all the courses.
On behalf of the judges Chef Devenny complimented all the entrants on the excellent quality of the food presented and their careful work in the kitchen, which equalled if not bettered the standard achieved in 2008, and had again made judging a lengthy and difficult process. The winners were named in reverse order by Rotary Vice President Leslie Irvine, who had organised the competition. In third place was Ainsley Henry from Calderglen; second was Zeinab Dean from Sanderson, and the winning chef was 14 year old Kirsty Immel from Calderglen who had impressed the judges with her methodical approach in the kitchen and the different styles of Scottish themed dishes she had prepared. Kirsty's "Homecoming Scotland" menu was breast of chicken with haggis and parma ham, honey glazed potatoes, green beans and a peppercorn sauce, followed by raspberry cranachan and highland shortbread.
The remaining competitors, Ryan Fennessey, the first male entrant, Amy Kendal, Rachel Lyon and Caroline Shearon all received warm praise for their efforts, and President Ray Porrelli presented them and the prize winners with a certificate recognising their participation. The winners also received cookery books and the winner, Kirsty, who had impressed the judges with her singing ability during preparation, also secured the star prize of one weeks training with Executive Chef Gerry Sharkey in La Bonne Auberge Restaurant in Glasgow. Kirsty's parents Carol and Alastair, were "delighted for her" and hoped that they might now experience some of her talent at home.
Kirsty will now go forward to the Rotary District 1230 finals on December 10, also at South Lanarkshire College, to represent East Kilbride, and hopefully from there all the way to the UK finals in April - good luck Kirsty.
At the conclusion of the evening the Rotary President Ray Porrelli paid tribute to Vice President Leslie Irvine for organising an excellent evening, and recognised the invaluable input of Ishbell Anderson and Cathie Purcell from South Lanarkshire College who had also been wholly and enthusiastically involved in its organisation, which included providing hospitality for the audience of forty parents, friends, teachers and Rotarians who attended. The President thanked them all for their support and the College for again allowing the use of its splendid facilities. He also expressed his appreciation to the judges who, like all the college staff, had again selflessly given of their own time to support the competition.
Picture No. 3 shows our winning chef 14 year old Kirsty Immel from Calderglen with Chef Paul Devenny remaining pictures give the overall actvity of the contestants and judges
Kirsty Conquers (Not Just Yet!!)
Ten aspiring young chefs from throughout the West of Scotland competed in the final of Rotary District 1230's Young Chef of the Year competition at South Lanarkshire College,These finalists had won local competitions organised by East Kilbride; Eastwood and Barrhead; Gryffe Valley; Helensburgh; Lochaber; Oban; Paisley Callants; Prestwick; Queens Park and Rothesay Rotary Clubs.
Prior to announcing the winner and runner up to over fifty supporters who attended, the event organiser, Rotarian John Tuck, thanked South Lanarkshire College for providing an excellent venue and superb support before and during the final. He also took the opportunity to thank the judges, Chef Devenny, Liz Fairbairn, Morag Sandilands and Janet Anderson, and of course the young chefs and their teachers for all their hard work.
District 1230 Governor, Andy Slater, then presented all the finalists with a certificate recognising their achievement together with a prize donated by South Lanarkshire College, prior to the awards to the runner up and winner, who would now go though to represent District 1230 in the Scottish and N. E. England final on 10 March at South Lanarkshire College. The winner, Jazz Catto from St Columba's School, representing Gryffe Valley Rotary Club then received her certificate and a silver salver from the District Governor.
Kirsty, who added a starter dish of Salmon Tartare with Crème Fraiche and Mixed Herb Salad to her "Homecoming Scotland" menu of Chicken Breast with Haggis wrapped in Parma Ham and Cranachan with Highland Shortbread used in the local competition, was surprised and delighted with her success.
East Kilbride Rotary President Ray Porrelli was delighted that the Club had been so well represented by Kirsty, and she now joined her Calderglen H S schoolmate Pamela Clark, who had been supported by the Rotary Club, in competition success.
9th December was the Rotary District 1230 "Young Chef" competition at South Lanarkshire Coillege.
Picture on the left we have Kirsty Immel with her teacher and the picture on the right, we have the District competition organiser John Tuck with the winner Jazz Catto from St Columba's School andr runner up Kirsty Immel from Calderglen
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