A budding young chef from Yorkshire was cooking up a storm in a top London restaurant this week as part of his prize for winning the Rotary Young Chef 2008 Competition in association with Filippo Berio.
Thomas Souter, from Helmsley, spent the day learning the tricks of the trade from top chefs at Fifteen London (founded by JamieOliver) on 2nd July and even got to meet the main man himself.
The 16 year old worked in the kitchen cooking delicious Italian dishes, and trying his hand at a range of pasta styles including gnocci, ravioli and mezzalune, before being congratulated on a job well done by Jamie who gave him his own tops tips for succeeding as a chef.
An elated Tom said: "It’s been really good. I’ve learnt a lot and everyone has been really nice. It’s great that people can come here to work and learn at the same time. Everyone teaches each other. Not many people I know my age cook but I love it! I love the fact that there’s so much to learn, not any one day is the same. It can take you anywhere; you can go all over the world.
"When I entered the Rotary Young Chef, I thought ‘what have I got to lose?’ and it turned out I didn’t have anything to lose but everything to gain. I’ve learnt so much from the competition, how to work under pressure, putting together a well balanced three-course meal and working with top chefs. Overall, the competition was really exciting – especially getting through all the regional heats to the final in London. In addition, I am also really looking forward to visiting Filippo Berio’s olive groves in Tuscany and seeing the olive oil harvest."
The chefs were delighted with how quickly Tom picked up how to work in a top class restaurant and even hinted that he could be working at one of their restaurants in a few years.
Andrew Parkinson, Fifteen London Executive Head Chef said:"It’s really important that we train up youngsters. They are the next generation of chefs and we need to build their passion for what they do. That is what Fifteen is all about so it’s great that Rotary Young Chef and Filippo Berio have the same vision about promoting the Rotary Young Chef competition. We were really impressed by the standard of the competition this year and can’t wait to see what the final holds in store for us for Rotary Young Chef 2009."
Tom is now looking forward to working full time at the Michelin Star rated Star Inn in Harome, Yorkshire under the guidance of head chef Andrew Pern.
Tom, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Helmsley and District, fought off stiff competition from the eight other national finalists of the Young Chef 2008 Competition in April and won an amazing trip with his mum to visit the olive groves in beautifulTuscany (the home of Filippo Berio), a day’s work experience at Fifteen London and a cheque for £250
Impressing judges with his organisational and presentational skills and overall flair, Tom’s winning three course meal consisted of a salad of langoustine on marinated goat’s cheese with confit of cherry tomatoes and a citrus mayonnaise, followed by a trio of duck served with thyme mash and orange sauce and topped off with a desert of fresh vanilla pot with a compote of rhubarb.
This year’s competition attracted over 4,000 entrants. To find out more about the Rotary Young Chef competition contact Linda May on RotaryYoungChef@aol.com.
11/07/08
