Leading TV chef James Martin praised a Harpenden secondary school pupil for coming third in a regional cook-off.
13 year old Charlie Taylor, who is in Year 8 at St George’s School, joined other budding chefs who were showcasing their culinary skills and their ability to develop recipes.
James Martin, who is the star of BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen was left impressed by Charlie’s chilli bean samosas with coriander guacamole and citrus salsa which he made in Red Tractor beef and lamb ‘Mmmake it with Mince Challenge’.
Charlie was selected from the hundreds of entries that were submitted for this year’s competition and he made it through to the 47 finalists who were chosen to represent their regions. There were six cook off events in total that were judged by James.
The cooking challenge has been running for six years and is aimed at 11-16 who love cooking.
At the East Anglian heat in Cambridge the students had one hour to think up and prepare an original recipe featuring either beef or lamb mince.
Charlie was praised for his dish and won third place. There were seven finalists in total taking part in the event.
James said: “The standard of entries this year was extremely high and Charlie has done exceptionally well. His recipe was innovative, nutritious and well presented, but most importantly it tasted great.”
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