Student Emma Parker has been officially crowned winner of the California Prunes Masterchef competition, following a closely fought final held last week at Westminster Kingsway College, London, the renowned catering institution responsible for notable alumni such as Jamie Oliver and Antony Worrall Thompson.
The search to find the California Prunes Masterchef involved asking Second Year students at the college to devise two innovative dishes (starter and main or main and dessert) featuring California Prunes. The competition was designed to educate emerging talent in the culinary field to appreciate the superior quality, versatility and health benefits associated with incorporating California Prunes as an inclusion.
To encourage entries, Celebrity TV chef, author and founder of Simply Good Food TV Peter Sidwell visited the college in February to provide an inspiring demonstration featuring a selection of his own California Prune based recipes. He was also able to answer students’ questions on working with California Prunes - one of the original ‘superfoods’ - as an inclusion.
California Prunes Masterchef winner Emma Parker (centre) with Amy Simmons and Hannah Smith
After an initial ‘paper based’ judging of all the entries by Jose Souto, senior chef lecturer in Culinary Arts at Westminster Kingsway College and Norman Fu, chef lecturer at Westminster Kingsway College, a shortlist of nine finalists was drawn up for the final on 28th March 2017.
The nine competitors were required to recreate their dishes in front of a judging panel (the above two representatives from the college were joined by Peter Sidwell, Esther Ritson-Elliott, European Marketing Director at the California Prune Board and Maxine Broderick, European Marketing Manager at the California Prune Board) in a tense two-hour cook-off.
“It was a tough call but in the end, we had to select a winner and Emma won with her fantastic Cheese Stuffed California Prunes with Mango Chilli Sauce starter and delicious Pork Loin with Brandy Marinated California Prunes main dish. All the contestants were judged not just on the taste of the dish but also on the skill shown in the kitchen and in the creation of the dish; presentation; work method, hygiene and safety as well as their innovative use of prunes. We were delighted with both the number and high calibre of entries to the inaugural California Prunes Masterchef competition and look forward to extending the concept for 2018.” commented Esther Ritson-Elliott.
Emma’s prize included £500 and a set of branded professional chef’s knives, runners-up Amy Simmons and Hannah Smith also received branded chef’s knives and £250 and £100 cash respectively.
Contact:
Esther Ritson-Elliott
California Prune Board UK