Challenge HomeYour invitation to be a Young Cook
Young people are annually invited to take part in the South East’s Young Cooks cookery competition with the winners receiving a share of £500!
The idea is to encourage all young people to roll up their sleeves, get stuck in and discover how much fun cooking can be – while learning vital life skills along the way!
Finalists will be chosen based on their entries and those who make the shortlist will be invited to an exciting final.
Closing date for entries: 18 April 2022.
Any child or young person aged 7 – 21 may enter Young Cooks within the following categories:
Primary
7-11 years
To enter the primary category you need to prepare two dishes, a homemade lasagne & cupcakes of your choice. The recipes should be what you think is delicious, healthy and showcase your cooking skills. You will need to include photos of the dishes and details of the ingredients, the method and the cost. The meal should cost no more than £10.
Next we will ask you to write about a family recipe of your choice, please include the method and preparation of this meal and it should also be within the budget of £10 to feed a family of 4.
If you are invited to the final you will be provided with £10 to cover the cost of the on the day ingredients and asked to cook one of your entry dishes. Added to this, children will be asked to take part in a very simple taste test.
Secondary
11-16 years
To enter the secondary category you need to prepare two dishes, a homemade pizza (including the dough) and a vegetable based cake or dessert. You will need to include photos of the dishes and details of the ingredients, the method and the cost. The meal should cost no more than £10.
Next we will ask you to write about a family recipe of your choice, please include the method and preparation of this meal and it should also be within the budget of £10 to feed a family of 4.
If you are invited to the final you will be provided with £10 to cover the cost of the on the day ingredients and asked to cook one of your entry dishes. Added to this, students will be asked to do a fun skills test demonstrating their artistic flair.
Further Education
16-21 years
To enter the Further Education category you will need to prepare two dishes completely of your choice. This can be a starter and main or main and dessert. You will need to include photos of the dishes and details of your ingredients, method and cost – sticking to a budget of £10.
If you are invited to the final you will be provided with £10 to cover the cost of the on the day ingredients and these will be the two dishes you would be asked to cook if you were invited to the final. Added to this you will be asked to do a skills test to demonstrate your technical skills.
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Young Cooks provides a wonderful opportunity for young people and families to get creative in the kitchen and show off their cooking creations to the world.
I love that every dish entered becomes an online recipe page and that there is a live cook-off staged for finalists to prepare their food for a panel of judges.
I would like to congratulate you and your team for organising another outstanding Young Cooks competition.
Enabling children and youngsters to create wholesome, healthy, locally sourced recipes to a fixed budget supports our curriculum plus improving the health and wellbeing of our nation.
Prior to our entries, students had been developing their signature dishes for weeks. They tweaked recipes to ensure nutritional content met healthy eating guidelines and ensured students have learnt new skills on the way.
I am delighted to support Young Cooks. This competition is a fantastic opportunity for children to get creative in the kitchen.
It is good to see a charity on my own doorstep encouraging young people to get cooking. It is also a great way to get them to think about healthy eating and sourcing local produce.
Young Cooks is staged as a fundraising event to support the educational services delivered by the KM Charity Team in Kent schools. No charge is made to submit a nomination, but funds raised through corporate sponsorship are used to support our work.