Teenage chefs serve up winning dishes to head on to finals

Winners Ryan Bloxsom, 13, and Scott Newell, 13, from Bay House School in Gosport with the judges, from left, business manager at the Wickham Co-operative Stuart Heaton, chef at The Marwell Hotel Phil Yeoman, home economist Davina Tibbetts, and organiser of The Create & Cook competition Min Raisman
Picture: Sarah Standing (160669-7440) — Winners Ryan Bloxsom, 13, and Scott Newell, 13, from Bay House School in Gosport with the judges, from left, business manager at the Wickham Co-operative Stuart Heaton, chef at The Marwell Hotel Phil Yeoman, home economist Davina Tibbetts, and organiser of The Create & Cook competition Min Raisman Picture: Sarah Standing (160669-7440)

Scott Newell and Ryan Bloxsom of Bay House School in Gosport were named winners of the Create and Cook competition by a panel of judges on Monday.

The pair, both 13, served up a winning dish of goat sausages with Yorkshire pudding and vegetables followed by a mouth-watering rhubarb and toffee apple panna cotta which impressed the four judges.

Judge and local chef Phil Yeomans says it was a tight call but ultimately the boys dishes just edged it.

Back from left, Katie Nelson, 13, and Lilla Hardman, 12, from St Swithun's School in Winchester; Ellie Bristow, 14, and Izzy Waters, 14, from Robert May's School in Odiham with front from left, Alfie Jolliffe, 14, and Shuzeda Chowdhury, 14 from Brune Park Community School in Gosport and Ryan Bloxsom, 13, and Scott Newell, 13, from Bay House School in Gosport.

Picture: Sarah Standing (160669-7416) — Back from left, Katie Nelson, 13, and Lilla Hardman, 12, from St Swithun's School in Winchester; Ellie Bristow, 14, and Izzy Waters, 14, from Robert May's School in Odiham with front from left, Alfie Jolliffe, 14, and Shuzeda Chowdhury, 14 from Brune Park Community School in Gosport and Ryan Bloxsom, 13, and Scott Newell, 13, from Bay House School in Gosport. Picture: Sarah Standing (160669-7416)

He said: ‘It was a really hard decision to pick a winner but their cooking content in their food just edged it.’

The competition tasked teams with using locally sourced ingredients when designing their menu’s and the team’s goats sausages certainly stood out.

Chef Phil said: ‘They made everything from scratch which was really impressive, especially the goat sausages.’

The boys, both in year eight, were delighted to have come first after a lot of hard work.

Ryan said: ‘We practised a lot so it means all our hard work has paid off, we’re really happy to have won.

‘The competition criteria meant the food had to be locally produced and there is a farm near us that sells goat meat –that’s where the goat sausages idea came from.’

The regional final was held at South Downs College where four teams battled it out to win a place in the regional final on June 21 at Newlyns Cookery School.

Cooking for a panel of four expert judges could have been a daunting prospect but the duo didn’t let nerves get the better of them said Scott.

He said: ‘We were a bit nervous at first but once we got into our cooking we were fine and managed to serve up on time.’

‘I enjoyed cooking something unique and I think that helped out a lot. I’m glad we won.’

Emotional mum Sharon Newell said: ‘They really deserve it because they have practiced and practiced, I’m very proud of them both.’

She said: ‘They put a lot of effort in, I’m so pleased for them.’

The Create and Cook competition is run by fit2cook food education and  is sponsored by The Southern Co-operative.