A London Colney pupil has been shortlisted in a national cooking competition for young chefs.
Aalia Miah, aged three, from London Colney Primary School, has been selected to represent Hertfordshire as one of five finalists in with a chance of being crowned the UK’s Young Pea Chef of the Year 2018.
The competition challenged children under 16 to develop a creative and delicious recipe using frozen peas as part of the Yes Peas! campaign. Hundreds of entries from budding chefs were judged by TV chef Rachel Green, a representative from the British Growers Association, the Ocado Foundation’s Suzanne Westlake and a representative from Fen Peas.
Aalia, who created a recipe for vegetable pancakes, said: “I’m really happy!”
In the next stage of the competition the public can vote for their favourite recipe up until Friday, June 15, when the child with the most votes in the primary school category will be crowned Young Pea Chef of the Year for their age group.
The winner will receive a £500 donation from the Ocado Foundation to go towards ‘Grow Your Own’ projects for their school, as well as a personalised hamper to take home.
TV chef and Yes Peas! ambassador Rachel Green said: “We were overwhelmed to receive 200 entries into this year’s competition – the highest number of entries since we kicked off our first competition three years ago.
I’m so pleased that parents and teachers supported the Yes Peas! campaign and encouraged children to enter. The standard this year is extremely high, and we’ve seen some really inspiring creations - I can’t wait to see who wins the vote!
“We’d like to congratulate Aalia Miah on being chosen as a finalist and hope Hertfordshire residents show their support by voting for her.”
Three winners will be chosen out of three different age categories,
Suzanne Westlake, from the Ocado Foundation, said: ““We’re delighted to be helping inspire children to eat well and really enjoy experimenting with delicious, healthy ingredients.
“We’ve seen some very innovative recipes and can’t wait to see which three budding chefs the public vote for!”
To find out more about the finalists and their recipes and vote for the winner go to www.facebook.com/YesPeas.
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