Learn more about School Chef of the Year

Discover top tips for school chefs entering the LACA School Chef of the Year competition

To help school chefs considering entering LACA School Chef of the Year (SCOTY) we recently held an Instagram live interview with judge, Louise Wagstaffe. This was hosted on our foodservice Instagram account by our marketing manager, Sarah Robb. Both Louise and Sarah have been involved with this competition for many years and it was fascinating to hear their stories from the event and discover their advice for school chefs who will putting an entry together over the coming weeks.

Sarah started the interview by highlighting how SCOTY is one of the highlights of her year at work and how excited she is that Bisto are supporting the event this year commenting: “We love seeing amazing dishes coming out of the competition year in and year out and witnessing the passion that school chefs have.”
Louise Wagstaffe explained how well this competition is organised by LACA to celebrate the work of school chefs who help to create healthy eating habits in young people. She told us how some of the chefs who have previously completed it have said it is the best thing they have done in their career.

You can watch the full interview here and we would recommend checking this out before you send in your entries to ensure you have addressed all the key points raised in the interview.

Here are some of the highlights from the Instagram live:-

• The competition has been known to propel careers and it allows you to stand out in your business whether that is a local authority or contract caterer.
• Amazing friendships are built during the competition, and everyone is in it to support each other. At previous finals, Louise has seen chefs sharing ingredients if someone has forgotten something.
• Whilst Bisto is sponsoring the competition, the list of ingredients also includes Sharwood’s sauces, McDougalls Flour Based Mixes, Angel Delight, Ambrosia and Bird’s Custards. With a tight timescale of 90 minutes, some of these products will work really well in helping to save vital minutes.
• When judging paper entries, Louise will be looking for the recipes to be really clear so that someone else can follow it with ease and they should also be fully costed. It has to work well within the environment that it will be served to. She is also looking for good quality photos of the dishes.
• At the regional heats and final, the judges are looking for great tasting food that is appealing for the young audience. It must also be the correct portion-size for that demographic so that it can be served in schools with minimal food waste.
• Talking about her stand out dish from her time judging, Louise reflected on Holly Charnock’s pasta. She said it was the most beautiful homemade pasta she has ever tasted, and she showed incredible skills in such a short space of time. We know this dish is a huge hit with children too.
• To get the dishes created in just 90 minutes, Louise said it is so important that chefs practise in different environments. The pods at the final are small, so chefs need to be able to work in this space. Louise recommended creating a kit box which they take into different kitchens to practise to make sure they have everything they need.
• Sarah’s top tip was to get someone else to read the recipe to make sure that everything has been fact checked. Louise talked about the detail the judges go to in ensuring recipes match the photographs. There is so much advice and information in the briefing packs so make sure you read everything.
• The regional finals are often used as a coaching session to offer advice for those who make the final or to give feedback to chefs who don’t make it through but might want to try again next year.

If anyone would like any samples of products, please get in touch with Sarah Robb at [email protected].
The deadline for registrations for SCOTY has been extended until 10th February so there’s still plenty of time to sign-up.