Luckley-Oakfield School

Food

Year on year Luckley celebrates the successes of girls with outstanding cooking talents. The girls work extremely hard to create exceptional courses of food, demonstrating their skill, creativity and teamwork. Outside Food Technology lessons, supported by the Food Technology teachers, girls compete in local, regional and national competitions. Regular competitions include the Rotary Young Chef and CBEBP (Central Berkshire Education Business Partnership) Young Chef.

'Most Creative Chefs' 2012

Anna Duff (Head Chef) and Claudia Adams represented Luckley at the finals of the 15th CBEBP Young Chef competition on Monday 5th March at Thames Valley University. The girls cooked Venison Wellington with Sweet Potatoes and Green Beans, followed by Poached Pears, Apple Puree and Vanilla Ice Cream. Competition was fierce and the girls came in third place. However, the judges were impressed with their ideas and they were asked to come back in the evening to compete against KS4/5 girls for the title of "Most Creative Chef", which they were overjoyed to win!

Claudia says "I love cooking so much and I was inspired by my mum and my grandma who are both great cooks. The thing I’m most interested in is dessert and pastry dishes because I love the decorating and bringing joy to people’s faces when they eat my food."

Luckley Sisters win Young Chef 2011

The 14th CBEBP Young Chef Final took place on Monday 7th March 2011 at The Thames Valley University, Reading. Hannah and Ellen Roberts (KS3) and Charlotte Weekly and Sasha Forster (KS4/5) competed against six other pairs in each age group from the winning schools from the Wokingham and Reading Area. The Central Berkshire Business Education Partnership had organised the competition and the judges were all head chefs from local restaurants. (Colin Robson-Wright from The New Mill at Eversley, David Cavalier from Charlton House and Robert Spencer from The London Street Brasserie, Reading.) Ellen and Hannah won the competition at KS3 level. Their menu was vegetable patch soup with flowerpot bread and their main course was Le Jardin de le mer (seafood risotto). The judges said that they were the clear winners and had only lost two marks out of 180! The girls were presented with catering equipment supplied by John Lewis and a day in the kitchens with Robert Spencer and his team followed by a meal for four in the Brasserie. Colin Robson-Wright also presented them with a voucher for a meal for four at the New Mill restaurant. They were so impressed with their creations that they invited them to come back in the evening to compete with the KS4/5 finalists for the ‘Most Creative Chef’ prize In the afternoon, Charlotte and Sasha cooked roasted butternut squash, farmhouse quiche with salad and zingy lemon cupcakes with lemon and lime frosting. Although they weren’t placed in the top three, the judges praised their pastry and flavours for the entire meal.
The judges later announced that Ellen and Hannah had also won the ‘Most Creative Chef’ prize. This is a fantastic achievement as no one has ever won both prizes before. The judges said the sisters' performance was the best they had ever seen in the 14 year history of the competition!

The Heat is on for Young Chef 2011

During the autumn term, we have held various heats for the Central Berkshire Young Chef Competition, now in its 14th year.

The girls worked in teams of two consisting of a Chef and a Sous-Chef and were given an hour to prepare their dishes: a starter at KS3 and a main meal and dessert at KS4/5. The results were judged by a representative from CBEBP and external catering professionals from local companies.

The winners of the heats were:

Charlotte Weekly and Sasha Fortser - KS4.

Ellen Roberts and Hannah Roberts - KS3

Claudia Adams and Anna Duff - Year 7 heat

All the winners will now go through to an elimination round in the hope of reaching the finals in March 2011.

Young Chefs Cook at the Famous TV Restaurant 'Cheerful Soul'

pudding

Winners from Raymond Blanc’s ‘The Restaurant’, Russell Clement and Michele English who run the much acclaimed Cheerful Soul, invited Luckley-Oakfield School Young Chef winners to cook in their restaurant in Marlow.

Ellen Roberts and Amy Hall, both aged 13, visited the famous restaurant on Wednesday 14th April to spend the day with their head chef designing, preparing and cooking a starter that was to be sold in the restaurant. The girls cooked their award winning desert of Chocolate, Cream and Raspberry Stack, with Raspberry Coulis and Spun Sugar. Working alongside Russell and two other chefs the girls produced fourteen of their puddings, which were listed on the specials board as ‘Special Specials.’ The girls were also tasked with going into the ‘front of house’ and talking to diners and encouraging them to try their delicious pudding. chefs

Ellen commented, ‘We even had a special button on the till for our pudding and it appeared on the customer receipts. The whole day was just amazing and the restaurant is brilliant.’ The girls have had an exciting month after winning the Key Stage 3 Young Chef Competition in March. The girls were accompanied to the restaurant by Kelly Odell from the Central Berkshire Education Business Partnership who runs the Young Chef Competition.

chefs at Cheerful Soul The girls are now appearing on the Cheerful Sole Blog http://www.micheleandrussell.blogspot.com/

At the second series of The Restaurant television, nine couples compete for the chance to open their own restaurant backed by Raymond Blanc. In July 2009 the winners, Russell Clement & Michele English, launched their own venture The Cheerful Soul in the Hare and Hounds in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.

Fat Duck Head Chef awards girls first place

chefs Ellen Roberts and Amy Hall dazzled judge Ashley Palmer Watts, Head Chef at the Fat Duck at the finals of the Young Chef Competition in March 2010. The girls produced a mouth watering, winning menu of chicken stuffed with roasted peppers, wrapped in pancetta, served with steamed kale, ribboned carrots and mashed potatoes, followed by a chocolate, cream and raspberry stack, with raspberry coulis and spun sugar. Not only were the girls cooking under pressure, they were also being filmed throughout the competition held at Thames Valley University. 20 schools in central Berkshire had taken part in the heats of the CBEBP and two pairs of Luckley chefs made it through to the final. As overall winners of the Key Stage 3 Young Chef the girls were presented with a beautiful glass trophy and a Kenwood Smoothy maker each, courtesy of John Lewis. Congratulations also go to Stacey Scuffell and Hannah Richards who were runners up for KS4 in the finals.

Prize for Stacey and Charlotte in Young Chef Competition 2009

chefs Congratulations to Stacey Scuffell and Charlotte Rawlings who came third in the final of the CBEBP (Central Berkshire Education Business Partnership) Young Chef Competition.

For the second year running, Stacey and Charlotte made it through the elimination round and into the final held at Thames Valley University.

Their menu of 'Springtime Pesto Stuffed Chicken with a medley of seasonal vegetables' followed by 'Amaretti Surprise with a Blackcurrant Coulis', cooked with a celebrity in mind was judged by David Cavalier, food innovation director of Charlton House and Colin Robson-Wright from the New Mill Restaurant.

Stacey and Charlotte were both presented with Certificates and a granite pestle and mortar.

Raymond Blanc awards Emily first place

cookery Following her success in the Rotary Club Young Chef Area final in November 2007, Emily Shaw, took part in the District Final on Saturday 23 February in Banbury. Emily was competing against 12 other able students from across the district. Emily won the competition and went through to the Regional Final on 15 March where again she took first place. For the Regional Final, Emily made a three course meal within two hours and Raymond Blanc judged the competition. Raymond Blanc was so impressed by her skill, her homemade pasta and her use of local produce that he has invited Emily to spend two days in one of his restaurants. During the competition Emily has tried to include as many skills as possible as the skill levels are also being judged. Emily used her pasta machine to make fresh pasta and made her own template for the Tuille biscuit ring. In Banbury Emily’s spun sugar was so amazing that the whole room stopped what they were doing in order to watch her do this! We wish Emily many congratulations and the best of luck at the national finals in April.

Prue Leith Inspires Students

Business woman, restaurateur, cook, and writer Prue Leith OBE was welcomed to Speech Day on Friday 2 November to present prizes to students. Prue Leith has recently taken on the role as Chair of the School Food Trust and, with a remit including the promotion of children’s health, is heading up the Government’s programme to improve school meals.

Miss Davis was delighted to welcome Miss Leith to Luckley, where healthy eating has been on the menu for many years. A microcosm of the school community was present at the event; pupils, past pupils, parents, staff, governors, feeder school head teachers and local dignitaries.

Active Image The event opened with a speech by Mrs Elizabeth Percival, a School Governor, and a report on the year by Miss Davis and was followed by the presentation of prizes. After the students had taken to the stage to receive their awards Prue Leith gave an inspiring and animated speech about her own exciting career. As she gave her talk the whole room was visibly captivated by her storytelling and her natural enthusiasm for her work. Prue Leith advised the Luckley pupils that the key to success lies in passion, determination and focus. She recounted a number of witty anecdotes including cooking for Elton John and the Queen Mother.