Young Aylesbury chef wins award at international cookery competition

A young chef from Aylesbury was awarded the Best Vegetarian Dish prize at an international cookery competition.

Competing virtually against other talented young cooks, Joe Slater, 18, won that section of the International Young Chef Olympiad.

Overall, the teenage Aylesbury cook came fourth, after battling it out with chefs from six continents and 24 time zones.

Now, in its eighth year, the competition saw participants take a skills test, and complete a cooking challenge, before the top 10 went head to head in a cook-off.

In round one, the chefs prepared a vegetarian pasta dish and crème caramel, the best cooks were tasked with creating a chicken dish using mystery ingredients for the final round.

Due to Covid restrictions, the event was held online with independent professional chefs in the countries being represented offering final judgement.

Joe said: “It was an honour to be picked to represent England in the Young Chef Olympiad 2022. I did my best and was happy with how my dishes turned out. I couldn’t have done much more.

“I felt well-prepared, particularly for the first round, because I’d practised that a lot. I was a bit nervous at first, but I began to settle down once I got going. It was a great experience and made me a better chef.”

Aylesbury's 18-year-old cookery virtuoso, works part-time as a chef at The Chequers Inn in Weston Turville.

He is also in year-three of a Professional Chef diploma at Westminster Kingsway College.

Alumni at the school which specialises in hospitality and the culinary arts include: Jamie Oliver, Ainsley Harriott and Sophie Wright.

Joe was mentored for the competition by WestKing chef lecturer Chris Basten, a former chair of the Craft Guild of Chefs.

He said: “We are exceptionally proud of Joe. He has worked tirelessly to practise and hone his culinary skills and created fantastic dishes in the competition and rightly got the recognition his hard work and commitment deserves.

“I would like to congratulate Joe on this fantastic achievement. He is a fantastic student who has proved himself to be a skilled and competent chef on the world stage.

"He is a credit to the college and definitely one to watch out for in the future.”

More information on apprenticeships and courses at WestKing is available online.