DG's Visits Week 33

The best of Scottish fare on the Saturday evening was followed by even better food on the Sunday. The latter was the occasion of the District finals of the Young Chef Competition, held again in the Catering Department of Dundee College. This scheme first came into existence due to the good offices and hard work of the Rotary Club of Dundee Discovery, in 2008. Again they were at the forefront of the organisation, ably aided and abetted by Dundee Claverhouse. Fourteen finalist from the local heats duly arrived from every corner of the District, some having left in the astonishingly early hours of Sunday morning to get to Dundee in time. Their task was to produce a balanced, interesting and healthy menu in 2 hours, for 2 people, at a cost of less than £15. Not only did they have to prepare everything and cook it, but they were also assessed on table settings and the quality of food presentation. In the words of the professional chefs who acted as part of the judging panel, this would have taxed many a time served professional and the skills on display were quite remarkable. The menus were excellent, to the extent that the organisers hope to combine them into a publication which can be sold for charity funds. The young people were incredibly committed and extremely hard working. The quality of food was quite superb. I would happily have any one of the young people prepare a meal for me. In the end, we had to select two winners and a reserve who will go forward to the next stage of the northern Britain finals from which further selections will be made to go to the RIBI finals in the south of England. These were Caitie Grainger,BlairWilson and Anne Doidge. However, everyone was a winner. It is no mean achievement to parade your skills in public before your peers and even more so, when at a relatively young age. I hope that all of them will maintain their obvious interest in the culinary arts. My thanks go to the respective Presidents of Discovery and Claverhouse, Craig Suttie and Nick Fleming, and all their Rotarians, for masterminding this very worthwhile competition.