In the final 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 took place on Wednesday 5th June at Unox headquarters in Camberley.
The school chefs were judged on the originality of their dish, how well the flavours and ingredients worked together, the variety of textures in the finished dish and the appealing look of their grab & go item.
The team of judges on the day included chief executive of SchoolGrid Dugald Curtis, former School Chef of the Year(SCOTY) winner Holly Charnock and development chef at Unox Aaron Katz.
The three finalists are:
- Angela McCurry (Nourish Catering) from Pride Academy: veggie Caribbean pasty
- Jennifer Brown (OCS) from Sarum Academy: Baked mac and cheese
- Terry Howard (Radish All Good) from Monega Primary School: South American arepa
Dugald commented: “LACA’s Grab ‘N’ Go Challenge is a fantastic opportunity for school chefs to showcase their skills. We’re delighted to be the 2024 sponsor, and we are looking forward to supporting the competitors throughout the process.
“As a proactive supporter of providing good school food for young people, we are excited that all entries this year will use our award-wining kitchen management software to nutritionally analyse their recipes.”
These 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.
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 and School Food Show on Thursday 4th July. The overall winner will also enjoy afternoon tea with LACA ambassador Mark as part of their prize.