3 June 2020
In the first half of the summer term, as part of their Brave New Wold programme, our Upper Sixth students enjoyed virtual cookery lessons with Erin Peyman, who was a quarter finalist in BBC TV’s Masterchef competition in 2018.
Erin also set a House Masterchef competition challenge for students in all other year groups, which was ‘to create any dish of your choice using a maximum of five ingredients’. Entries (which would earn House points) were to be submitted by means of a video of no longer than two minutes that showed the finished dish, explained the choice of dish and described the cooking process. Erin was also keen to know whether everything went to plan or whether our Woldingham chefs would change anything next time they cooked their chosen dish.
Lots of students enthusiastically took up the challenge, some cooking family favourites and others their own creations. There was also a good mix of sweet and savoury entries.
Before announcing the winners via video, Erin said how impressed she had been with the overall standard of entries, revealing that she hadn’t really started cooking seriously until her late teens, early twenties.
In third place, for Stuart, was Natasha, Year 10, with her ‘Cheeky Chinese Chicken’. Erin commended Natasha on the techniques she employed – marinating the chicken and putting her chillis and spring onions in ice cold water – as well as her amazing presentation.
In second place, also for Stuart, was Year 7’s Lea, who had cooked ‘White Fish Fillet à la Normande in a Baby Garden’. Erin was impressed by the thought Lea put into presentation, down to the detail of plate selection, and by her use of a pressure steamer. She also liked how close to Lea’s heart her dish was as her mum comes from Normandy.
Woldingham’s House Masterchef Champion, claiming the title (and plenty of House points) for Digby, was Mia, Year 8 whose raspberry souffle more than rose to the challenge! As well as complimenting Mia on mastering the difficult technique of souffle-making, Erin was hugely impressed with Mia’s clear demonstration of the process in her video and suggested Mia could make her own cookery show. High praise indeed!
The full results are shown below:
Key Stage 3
1st - Mia - Digby - Raspberry Souffle
2nd - Lea - Stuart - White Fish Fillets
3rd - Judy - Stuart - Chinese Dumplings
Key Stage 4
1st - Natasha - Stuart - Cheeky Chinese Chicken
2nd - Iona - Stuart - Sausage Bake
3rd - Immy and Sophie - Digby - Sausage & Broccoli Tagliatelle
Key Stage 5
1st - Nicole - Duchesne - Nigerian Dumplings
2nd - Charlotte - Stuart - Cheesecake
3rd - Ria - Stuart - Plantain & Egg Stew
