Salford Youth cook up a storm

Players from Salford City Reds RLFC cheered on teams from four youth projects across the City at the Great Salford Youth Cook Off. Young Player of the Year, Adam Neal and Jack Spencer were on hand to add their own cooking tips to those of award winning chef, David Gale from The Hilton, Deansgate, Manchester, who was judging the competition.

The Four Teams were given a week to come up ideas and recipes for two different meals to feed a family of four on a total budget of £10. On the day of the competition the teams were first given a briefing by David Gale on ways to cook nutritiously and on a budget. They were then given 30 minutes and £10 to spend in Tescos before heading back to The Cheshire Cookery School, in Altrincham to commence the competition. After their basic food hygiene training the Teams had just 90 minutes to prepare and cook their meals.

The winning menu of Pasta Carbonara and Strawberry Cheesecake was produced by The Slurple Purple People Eaters team, who will enjoy lunch with David Gale at The Hilton, Manchester. All teams were given goodie bags from Tesco, competition tee-shirts and tickets to see a home game at Salford City Reds at their last season at The Willows before they move to their new stadium in Barton in 2012.

The winning team said; “It was really good to budget for the meal and then work with my team to design a two course meal and prep it…I was really pleased with my achievements! Considering we only had a tenner, the whole meal was scrumptious! (Stefany Ganz – The Slurple Purple People Eaters)

Chef Mentor David Gale said “What a name and what a team! They were the least prepared but went on to produce great food. Chefs cook best from the heart and soul and theses girls did just that”

James Field, Senior Youth Worker, Salford City Council said; “Salford Youth Service is supporting this initiative as part of their commitment to offer a diverse range of dynamic and exciting opportunities to young people living within the city. This programme in particular focuses on providing young people with the opportunity to develop new skills, raising aspirations and reducing the likelihood of worklessness in the future. It is fantastic that someone like David Gale has taken the time out to pass on some of his knowledge and skills to train and promote cooking as a valuable career choice”