IT’S BEEN hotting up in the competition kitchens this week as more than 20 Cheshire schools took part in the ABode Young Chef of the Year Competition semi-finals, which were held at four Cheshire colleges.

From the many hopefuls, four finalists were picked out to compete in the final of the ABode Young Chef of the Year Competition, which will be held at the Chester Food, Drink & Lifestyle Festival in April.

Each dish was judged on appearance, taste and texture as well as how rounded the dish was and how the flavours complemented each other.

Many of the dishes used locally sourced Cheshire produce and others looked to different countries to get their inspiration and chilli con carne in a pepper pot, Swedish style fishcakes with salsa and roast new potatoes and ginger and lemon chicken thighs with tagliatelle.

The young cooks all had 40 minutes to cook their dishes from start to finish.

The judges sampled each dish and included James Holden of the Academy of Culinary Arts, Christophe Hesbert, general manager of Chester ABode and Stephen Wundke, chairman of Taste Cheshire.

James Holden said: “There were some fantastic dishes in the semi-final and the standard of the cooks was extremely high. We literally had blood (well-almost) and certainly sweat and tears this week, as the children battled it out for the four final places.”

Out of the 24 young chefs that cooked this week, four semi-finalists were picked out and included Hannah Oakes from Kings Grove High School in Crewe. Hannah cooked a tarragon chicken with mozzarella, wrapped in Parma ham with a cous cous salad.

Kameron McDowell from St Paul’s Catholic High School in Wythenshawe, Manchester, impressed with a pork loin dish and prune and brandy sauce with fondant potato.

Also in the final four were Robbie Massom from Neston High School with a Cheshire Burger Surprise and finally, Andy Turner from University Church of England Academy in Ellesmere Port with his take on a classic Trout Cleopatra.

Michael Caines, executive head chef at Chester ABode and two Michelin starred chef, added: “Christophe Hesbert and myself were astounded by the standard of the young chefs and I would be excited to work with any one of the final four that have been picked.

“My advice for the final stage of this exciting competition will be to keep the flavours simple yet high in quality, stay calm and keep focused.”

The four finalists will now decide what their last dish will be. All must use local produce and they can use this as an opportunity to learn about how to work with suppliers and source the best possible ingredients.

The final will be held at 10.30am on Monday, April 9. Michael Caines will be there himself to judge the young chefs and will crown one talented youngster Young Chef of the Year 2012.