Competitors are required to prepare cook and present four portions of a grab & go/breaktime savoury snack with a total cost per head of 80p. The cook-off will take place on Wednesday 5th June at Unox headquarters in Camberley.
The ten school chefs include:
- Adam Hatton (Caterlink) from Tudor Grange School: sweet potato, spinach and chickpea kathi roll
- Andrew Lidster (Impact Food Group) from John Wallis Academy: chicken tikka burrito
- Mark Kent (Impact Food Group) from Norton Knatchbull: spiced yoghurt chicken, fried rice and healthy slaw salad
- Angela McCurry (Nourish Catering) from Pride Academy: veggie Caribbean pasty
- Andre Alto (OCS) from Kings Norton Girls School: lumpiang sariwa (fresh spring roll)
- Jennifer Brown (OCS) from Sarum Academy: Baked mac and cheese
- Alex Gafton from Queen Ethelburga's College: Columbian arepas
- Terry Howard (Radish All Good) from Monega Primary School: South American arepa
- Ulisse Di Benedetto (Stir Food) from Cobham Free School: warm BBQ beanie Quorn pitta with pomegranate Asian slaw
- Sarah Williams from Wales High School: coconut rice n beans with kachumbari (Tanzanian spicy slaw)
Mark Sargeant, chair of judges, commented: “Being able to get involved with my first school food cooking challenge is exciting and for it to be related to the current grab and go trend, even more so.
"Working as chair of judges with past School Chef Of The Year winner Holly Charnock and current SchoolGrid director Lin O’Brien MBE is going to teach me so much about school food and to have a student judge onboard in Luke Hall completes a great combination.”
Three finalists will be invited to the LACA Main Event on Wednesday 3rd July 2024 to cook their Grab ‘N’ Go item in a competition environment to decide the winner. First place will receive £500, plus a £500 set of Wüsthof professional chef’s knives donated by SchoolGrid.
2023 winner Jody Iske said: “The Grab ‘N’ Go Challenge sponsored by SchoolGrid is a fantastic competition for chefs to showcase their talent and promote good school food. It’s a great stepping stone in a school chefs’ career.”
The overall winner will be announced at the LACA Informal Dinner on Wednesday 3rd July 2024. The winner will demonstrate their winning recipe on the LACA Live demonstration theatre at the Main Event on Thursday 4th July. The overall winner will also enjoy afternoon tea with Mark as part of their prize.