SCHOOL cooks impressed top food judges in Worcester with a masterchef-style competition.

Celebrity chef Prue Leith was at the grand opening of state-of-the-art culinary facilities at Worcester College of Technology. It is the latest in the national School FEAST centres of training. The centre’s grand opening on Friday included the competition judged by BBC TV’s Great British Menu judge and the School Food Trust’s chairman, Prue Leith.

Worcester is one of 29 specialist centres and partnerships comprising School FEAST(Food Skills and Excellence Training) and is the second specialist training centre for school cooks in the West Midlands.

The new centre will provide training and continuous education for cooks, kitchen assistants, lunchtime supervisors, pupils and their parents from across the county.

The launch event saw two teams of school cooks mentored by top local chefs Daren Bale of The Elms at Abberley and Felice Tocchini of Fusion Brasserie in Stoulton. The groups then divided, prepared and presented a nutritious, two-course meal which meets the budget set for a school lunch in the area, of about £1.80 to £2.10.

Ms Leath said she had been very impressed by the standard of cooking. “I love this competition because I am a cook by trade and like anything that gets me back into the kitchen. It has been great to see these women who are usually catering for schoolchildren show us that they really can cook and get creative with it.

“School cooks are the heartbeat of our school food revolution - transforming lunches and children's health. They deserve the best training. This extension of the School FEAST Network will play a key role in nurturing the school cooks of the future – enhancing the skills of kitchen staff for hundreds of schools in Worcester and the surrounding areas, and ensuring more children eat a healthy lunch every day,” she added.

School cook Julie Sorrentino, from Stourport High School took part in the competition.

She said: “Today really has been great. We don’t often get the chance to do something like this and it is good to be able to prepare different dishes. I have got lots of new ideas now that I will be taking back to the school with me.” The school cooks involved in the event came from Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Shropshire. The cooks have been active in work-based training to improve their skills and many are already working towards NVQs in professional cookery.