Leon Woolley and Deaken Bhavnani, both 13 years old, from Cirencester Deer Park School have been crowned the Midcounties winners of the Create & Cook Competition.
Leon and Deaken won the final with their local goats’ cheese and mushroom ravioli with a wild garlic and hazelnut pesto plus a triple chocolate brownie with Chantilly cream and raspberry coulis.
They wowed the judges with their culinary skill and their menu which had a real flavour of where they live. Min Raisman, Director of fit2cook food education who runs the Competition said “Leon and Deaken had worked really hard sourcing their ingredients – they picked wild garlic from their local canal bank, sourced mushrooms from Stroud Farmers’ Market and used Jess Ladies organic cream and Shipton Mill flour as well. They are both passionate cooks who clearly enjoyed every moment of the competition. They are deserving winners.”
Leon said of winning “I have wanted to be a chef for as long as I can remember, receiving my first pestle and mortar when I was a toddler! This means so much to me.” Deaken added “This is amazing, I love cooking and I love food!”
The final was held on Monday 1st July at Foodworks Cookery School near Cirencester and was sponsored by the Best of our Counties brand part of Coop Midcounties. Thanks to Gareth Fulford from Purslane Restaurant, Cheltenham for helping us judge all the great dishes.
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