The Knorr Student Chef of the Year competition is back for a 13th year and this time Knorr has turned up the heat on its competitors with a challenge to reinvent age-old traditional Irish recipes. Old family favourites such as bacon and cabbage, coddle and Irish stew will be given a fresh twist of creative seasoning to produce modern, 21st century Irish recipes that bear the distinguished hallmark of traditional Irish cuisine that Ireland has become famous for.
The competition, launched this week in the GMIT catering college in Galway, is open to all student chefs in catering colleges across Ireland and there have in the past been plenty of entrants and winners from Athlone Institute of Technology. The high-calibre judging panel includes several talented chefs including Stefan Matz, the award-winning head chef at the five star Ashford Castle hotel, and Galway’s G Hotel; Willie Somers, Unilever Food Solutions executive Head Chef; and Robert Dagger, head of Dept Hospitality and Culinary Arts Hotel School at GMIT.
To enter, students must create an innovative Irish recipe for both a starter and main course, using a minimum of two Knorr catering products. Each entry will be evaluated on creativity, technique, workmanship, composition, presentation and the use of local Irish seasonal produce. Closing dates for applications is Friday January 22, 2010. The final student chef cooking showdown will take place in GMIT on Thursday February 11, 2010.
Students can get more details about the competition on www.unileverfoodsolutions.ie Deadline for entries is January 22, 2010 and judges decision on the shortlist is final. The Knorr Student Chef of the Year Award Final will take place in GMIT college on the February 11, 2010.
