A Transition Year (TY) student has scooped work experience with Irish celebrity chef television personality Neven Maguire after winning the Shannon Region Junior Chef of the Year 2022 competition.
One student finalist was selected from four schools across the region to represent their school in a two-hour live culinary grand final in the Limerick Strand Hotel kitchen.
Gráinne Scullane, a TY student from St Anne’s Community College, Killaloe was the overall competition winner and received the first place gold medal.
She won a €250 Good Food Ireland voucher that can be spent in hotels around Ireland, a one4all voucher, a fresh fruit and vegetable voucher and a signed copy of Nevin Maguire’s latest cookbook.
After sending a thank you message to Mr Maguire, Gráinne was taken aback when he replied, offering her a golden opportunity to work with him in his internationally renowned restaurant in Cavan for a few days.
In an interview with The Clare Champion, Gráinne recalled her passion for baking came from her family as her father, Kieran had a coffee shop in Limerick City, which required bread making in their home.
The 16-year-old from Ballina, Killaloe, also loved visiting her grandmother in Limerick during the weekend when they used to bake cookies, cakes and buns together.
Every few weeks, she also visited her aunt in Roscrea, who she described as an “amazing cook”, baking different types of treats.
“When I bake something that is really nice, it gives me more inspiration to do more. I feel that tastes nice so I will go and get another recipe, bake something a bit different and see does it taste as nice when I give it to family members and friends for their feedback.”
Passionate about different types of food, Gráinne is constantly trying to learn new baking and cooking techniques by watching chefs likes Nevin Maguire, Rachel Allen and Gordon Ramsay to see how they work in the kitchen.
She also enjoys watching “Cake Box” from New Jersey where they feature the most extravagant cakes.
The Shannon Region Junior Chef of the Year 2022 took place recently at the Limerick Strand Hotel.
This was the second year of the competition and it was back bigger and better than ever as an in-person event for the first time.
The competition was the culmination of a Transition Year taster course, run by a team of professional executive chefs from Limerick and Clare ETB’s College of Further Education and Training, Hospitality Campus.
These courses were undertaken by nearly 450 TY students in the region, who have an interest in the hospitality sector as a career or in just learning a skill for life.
Since last September, schools across the region participated in two different hospitality taster courses specifically developed for transition years: the Junior Chef ‘Apprenticeship Taster’ and a ‘Barista Skills Taster’.
Chefs, Diarmuid O’Callaghan and Carol Dollery provided a 16-week taster course in St Anne’s, which Gráinne thoroughly enjoyed.
Starting off with the basics in cooking, Gráinne recalled they learned what food should be served together and what will cook and blend well together.
Students learned how to make a “fakeaway” – a fake takeaway that tasted just as nice but was a lot more healthy.
After putting her name forward, Gráinne was selected by the two chefs to represent St Anne’s Community College in the competition. One of eight semi-finalists, she qualified for the final, which she won much to her surprise.
For the final, she cooked a pork steak with cream leek sauce, purple sweet potatoes and wild mushrooms as the main course and a peach and apricot Bakewell tart for dessert.
“I was delighted to win as I didn’t expect it at all. It gave me a great buzz on the day. The other finalists were brilliant. I was shocked to win the competition.
“I would love to become a pastry chef with a view to becoming a head chef some day, own my own restaurant or work in a five-star restaurant.”
“A healthy meal doesn’t always have to be bland and plain. It can be fun and tasty,” she said.
Her father, Kieran said it was great for Gráinne to win a competition at such a young age.
“You have to have flair and a love for cooking and baking. You can teach a person so much, but you must have passion for it. You can use good ingredients to cook a very tasty simple dish that isn’t too expensive.
“The hospitality sector are crying out for all types of chefs. A lot of people have left this trade during Covid-19. Being able to put a dish together is a great skill set to have going to college and for the rest of your life.
“If more cooking was taught in schools at an early age, it would help reduce obesity.
She thanked the Limerick and Clare Education Training Board for providing the culinary course, Diarmuid O’Callaghan, Carol Dollerly, Tom Flavin, Fáilte Ireland and Nevin Maguire.
She said that every student should participate in a similar cooking course, which would help them to learn how to cook basic meals, which they could practise at home.
Speaking at the competition, Chief Executive of Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board, George O’Callaghan, said the new apprenticeship ‘taster’ scheme for transition years with an interest in the hospitality industry as a career has proven highly popular with students across the region over the past two years.
“I would like to congratulate our Further Education and Training Division and our Schools Division on this fantastic collaboration.
“I would also like to thank our team of professional executive chefs from the ETB’s Hospitality Campus who have helped make today’s competition for our transition year students a reality,” he said.
East Clare correspondent, Dan Danaher is a journalism graduate of Rathmines and UL. He has won numerous awards for special investigations on health, justice, environment, and reports on news, agriculture, disability, mental health and community.