About Hampshire

The Young Chef heat was organised by the Rotary Clubs, giving students under the age of 17 from Hampshire, Dorset, the Isle of Wight, Channel Islands and Wiltshire the chance to show off their culinary skills.

The competition, held at at Eastleigh College's Red Carpet restaurant, is part of the Rotary Club's national hunt for Britain's best young chef. 

Entrants had two hours to prepare three courses

The competition starts locally, with individual Rotary Clubs organising heats at regional venues.

The contestants had to cook a healthy three course meal from a shopping budget of £14 - and were given just two hours in which to prepare the meal and present it on a properly laid table.

The aim of the competition was to develop the cooks' planning and presentation skills as well as getting them to consider healthy options and prove their abilities working under pressure.

Flare

Eastleigh College lecturer Alan Humphrey looked on the day as a chance to spot some future prospects:

"We see it as a chance to liase with the schools and hopefully get lots of new students. I'm looking for flare, but most of all I'm looking for taste and quality."

The judges taste the dishes

Hannah Cox from St Anne's School in Alderney won the top prize for her king prawns in white wine and garlic butter sauce, rack of lamb with crusted herb coating served with a redcurrent and mint jus, rounded off with caramelised apples on a cinnamon brioche.

The other qualifier was Kirsti Maybank from Christchurch who wowed the judges with her pea and mint soup with bacon crisp, mille-feuille of fish and shellfish with a medley of steamed vegetables, iced lemon and walnut with a red compote.

Scrumptious

BBC Radio Solent's Charlie Crocker was one of the judges and she was impressed with the spreads:

"The high level of professionalism that the young chefs showed means that we have the Nigella Lawsons of the future right on our doorstep in the BBC Radio Solent area - scrumptious!"

The two winners go forward to the regional finals in Somerset in March. The eventual winner of the UK-wide competition receives a day's experience at the Fifteen Restaurant in London plus a trip to Tuscany's olive oil tasting festival.