Two 15-year-old chefs have shared the distinction of becoming Cornwall's Junior Chefs of the Year 2024.
Freya Barrett and Sam Smith from Penrice Academy in St Austell were joint winners in the South West Chef of the Year competition, where they outperformed other chefs between the ages of 12 to 15 in the final at Cornwall College in Camborne.
In 2023, Freya won both the Cornwall Junior Chef and the overall South West Junior Chef of the Year awards.
Sam has also reached the Cornwall county finals for three successive years.
Freya's winning dish was a pan-fried hake, cauliflower prepared in four different ways, finished with hazelnut, sea greens beurre noisette, and squid ink tuille.
Sam's dish was a pan-fried duck breast with creamy mash, accompanying sticky shallots, spinach, mushrooms, a duck leg bonbon, and a red wine sauce.
The duo was mentored by Pete Murt, the head chef at Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant in Padstow.
The judges for the final were Aiden Blakely-May, Tim Kendall, Stephane Delourme, and Clyde Connellan.
A total of six county finalists, including the two winners, all finalists can now progress to the FutureChef regional final in January 2025, due to Springboard FutureChef's partnership with the competition.
Competition co-founder and acclaimed chef, Michael Caines MBE DL, said: "The standard of cooking in the Cornwall final was fantastic, in fact, it was so good we couldn’t choose just one winner, so have awarded the accolade to both Freya and Sam.
"They’ve both developed considerably since taking part in previous competitions and for Sam, it showed that persistence pays off!
"They demonstrated skilful use of local ingredients in their very impressive dishes.
"Developing new talent remains one of our key drivers with this competition and it’s gratifying to see many of our previous young winners go on to have successful careers in the catering industry."
Entries for the professional, young professional, student/apprentice, and home cook categories remain open, visit their website for details.
The overall winner of South West Junior Chef of the Year will have a chance to gain work experience with Michelin-starred chef, David Everitt-Matthias, at his esteemed restaurant Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham.
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