A CULLODEN pupil withstood the heat in the kitchen to see off two Moray opponents in a national cookery competition.
Thomas Hoades won the local heat of the Springboard FutureChef contest at Elgin’s Oakwood Cookery School on Monday.
The Culloden Academy dished up a magnificent main course and dreamy dessert to beat Elgin High’s Dean McCall and Speyside High’s Aimee Hamilton to first place.
All three young cooks won their own school heats, and had been taken under the wing of local chefs to help them spruce up their culinary skills.
FutureChef is open to school pupils aged 12 to 16, with local and regional finals before the grand final in London in March.
Contested across the UK, it aims to teach young people how to cook as well as keeping them informed about future entry routes into the hospitality industry.
Monday’s contest was judged by Eight Acres Hotel head chef Stuart Aitken and Oakwood Cookery School manager Vicky Farquhar.
Graeme Strachan, from competition sponsors Springboard, said the judges had been left with an ‘extremely difficult’ decision due to the quality of all three teenagers’ dishes.
See the Northern Scot print version for full story and pictures.
