10-year-old Harry Garthwaite, winner of CBK Masterton’s young chef competition. PHOTO/FLYNN NICHOLLS
Five finalists have gone head-to-head at the inaugural CBK Masterton Junior Chef Competition.
CBK Masterton owner Daniel Lee organised the competition with Masterton District Library.
It was open to chefs aged 10 to 13 and was promoted on social media. To be selected, contestants made a dish and posted a photo on the event’s Facebook page.
The five finalists made a dish on Monday with a mystery ingredient – tiger prawns.
The five finalists were Daniel Gordon, Bella Rankin, Ailish Murphy, Evelyn Ross, and Harry Garthwaite.
Daniel, who began learning to cook when he was seven, made a prawn risotto as his final entry.
Bella opted for garlic prawns with rice and lettuce as her competition dish.
She credited her mum with teaching her to cook.
Ailish had only been cooking for one month before submitting bao buns to the competition. Her final competition dish was prawn tortillas, and when asked what the best ingredient in the recipe was, she said, “the prawns!”.
Evelyn chose a more complex option – tandoori prawns with coconut rice and sweet pineapple salsa.
Harry, who learned to cook when he was “about four”, cooked tiger prawns with flatbread and salsa salad.
He very diplomatically acknowledged the skills of the other finalists, reckoning he had a “one in five” chance of taking out the top spot.
Harry was rewarded for his humility when his dish won the competition. First prize was a chef’s knife engraved with his name and a $200 Prezzy card.
CBK Masterton will include Harry’s winning dish in their menu for the next month.
