A romantic meal to celebrate St Dwynwen’s Day won this year’s NFYFC National Cookery Finals at the Malvern Autumn Show, supported by ADM.
Competitors were given just one hour to create a three-course meal to celebrate an occasion of their choosing.
Brecknock YFC – who successfully defended their title after winning last year – chose to honour the Welsh patron saint of lovers with a menu that included a starter of salmon with horseradish cream avocado mousse, a main of Welsh lamb served with laver cakes, cabbage and leeks, and a succulent pud of dark chocolate spheres filled with Welsh goats cheese, cream and passion fruit.
Megan White said: “We chose to celebrate St Dwynwen because she was a Welsh princess who was born in Brecknock. Everything was local. The salmon was from Brecon, 15 minutes down the road from us. My lamb was from the International Welsh Rarebit Centre 19 miles from our village, the goat’s cheese was a local one and most of the veg was grown in our gardens.”
Fellow cook Isobel Hood, whose salmon starter was also awarded Best Presentation, said: “My parents made me cook as soon as I was big enough to reach the stove! But I’m pleased that they did because I love doing it now.”
Megan added: “It’s a great skill to have. I’m at uni now so it’s great to be able to cook without burning the kitchen down!”
As usual, competitors – in teams of three – had no electricity or ovens and had to make do with two small camping stoves. However, this year the teams were given the additional challenge of incorporating three mystery ingredients – revealed to be parsnip, pears and dark chocolate – into their menus.
Dish of the Day was awarded to Bedfordshire for their Steak Stir Fry as part of their celebration of Chinese New Year.
Alena Murrell said they used grass-fed Dexter beef, farmed by friends local to them. "It was stir fried with noodles and vegetables and we used the mystery parsnip ingredient by frying it with some five spice and adding some honey to make it nice and crispy and add a different texture.”
Best Display was awarded to Yorkshire B for their stunning creation celebrating Yorkshire Day – complete with a running water feature, which was the inspiration of team member Joe Holmes.
Brooke said: “Joe has always wanted to incorporate a water feature and we were inspired by the Brontë waterfalls so it was a perfect opportunity to do it this year.”
Joe explained how they brought his idea to life. “It’s made out of things we found around the farm. There’s a pump that pumps the water round, powered by a portable USB battery.”
The competition was once again judged by professional chefs Ben Axford and Hetty Ziegler-Jones, who were joined by guest judge Dr Simon Penson, Technical Director for competition sponsor ADM.
Ben said: “There was some incredible technical work, the kind of work you would expect in a fine dining restaurant.
“The stir fry was like a gourmet dish. If I had bought that in a restaurant, I’d have been very happy. It was seasoned perfectly, there was lovely spicing on it and the meat on top of it was cooked to perfection.”
Hetty added: “It was interesting to see how the teams coped with the mystery ingredient challenge. I liked the ones where you had to really look to find where they had incorporated it – some used them as a puree or a sauce, rather than just as a garnish, so that was interesting.”
Teams impressed members of the public with their creative displays when the marquee was opened to visitors.
Simon from ADM was delighted to sample some of the dishes.
“I’d quite like some of them to cook for me! It’s incredible what they turn around in an hour," he said. "They work really hard and show some inspiration in the cooking skills they have and the variety of foods they use.
“Food and farming are critical to ADM and critical to our society, so we’re proud to sponsor this competition.”
1st place: Brecknock YFC
2nd place: Yorkshire A
3rd place: Pembrokeshire A
Best Dish of the Day
Bedfordshire's Steak Stir Fry
Best presentation
Brecknock's salmon starter
Best Display of the Day
Yorkshire B's Yorkshire Day