Open to primary schoolchildren aged 7-11, the competition required teams to bake either a sweet or savoury dish around the theme of ‘local produce,’ with a look to develop their interest in cooking and teach pupils about food sourcing and provenance.
Going head-to-head in the live final, which takes place the annual LACA ‘The Main Event’ (Birmingham, 12 July), are:
- Mendip Green Primary School
- Overleigh St Mary’s CE Primary School
- St Martin & St Mary Church of England Primary School
- Woodlands Primary School
- Gurnard Primary School.
Sarah Robb, Premier Foods channel marketing manager, said: “Since the start of the year, we have been overwhelmed by the number of recipes that have rolled in, and we have thoroughly enjoyed the tricky task of sifting through to identify our potential winners.
“We’re now in the fourth year of the competition and the entries continue to get bigger and better.
“It’s always exciting to see what local ingredients the schools have chosen - we’ve seen vegetables grown in a school garden, eggs from the local dairy farm, and one school even organised a trip to visit a nearby farm to select their ingredients.
“A huge congratulations to everyone who entered and good luck to those who have made it through to the final, we are looking forward to the competition.”
Having already impressed judges, including: Premier Foods executive chef, Mark Rigby; Carol Harwood (LACA) and Andrew Green (Craft Guild of Chefs), teams will be put through their culinary paces at the final, with judges marking entries on taste, presentation and teamwork.
As well as the winner taking home £1,000 worth of kitchen equipment for their school, all runners up will also receive £250 worth.