Droylsden Academy pupils put cooking skills to the ultimate test

Thursday, 17 February 2022 14:19

The fabulous Droylsden Academy MasterChef competition returned this year for the first time since the pandemic.

With extra-curricular activities back up and running, the Academy was able to organise the ever-popular contest once again.

A series of heats consisting of three rounds were held before three finalists went through to put their cooking skills to the ultimate test at Tameside College’s restaurant at Tameside One. Here they were under the direction of the college’s head chefs. Themes in the rounds included ‘Curry Tuesday’ and ‘Best of British’.

The three finalists were Taalia Allikmaa (who cooked zucchini rollanti for main and a chocolate brownie for dessert), Elisa Morreale (who cooked prawn cocktail to start and pork escalope with polenta potatoes for main) and Leyla Francis (who cooked chicken provencale with rice and broccoli for main, and chocolate fondant for dessert).

The judges were Jill Farkas from the Academy, Stuart Friedrich from Brambles Bakery in Audenshaw and the head chefs from Tameside One. It was a nervous, but exciting time for the young chefs as they prepared their dishes against the clock.

It was a difficult decision for the judges too, but with all the scores in, Taalia was named the winner and ‘Droylsden Academy MasterChef 2022’ with Leyla and Elisa joint runners-up.