Young chefs competed for the title of Hillingdon's Young Masterchef 2010 at a cook-off. The winner was Nadia Dobson, age 17, from Hayes, at the event held at Uxbridge College and run by Hillingdon Council as part of the Summer Fiesta programme of activities for young people.
Her dishes included salmon en croute with seasonal vegetables and a rice stack, and a lemon meringue dessert. She was presented with a pair of tickets to Thorpe Park as a prize.
Nadia was the overall winner following a week of one-day workshops - a winner from each day took part in the cook-off on Friday 20 August. She will go through to heats in a national competition being run by Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland (RIBI).
Judges at the final event were Bob Lankester from the Rotary Club of Elthorne-Hillingdon, and Uxbridge College Chef Lecturer Robert Bennett, who taught the participants during the week.
Nadia said: "It's been great fun - I make sure the pressure doesn't get to me because if it did I would collapse under it. I'm really happy to be the winner and looking forward to taking part in the national competition."
Chef Robert Bennett said: "The cooking some of these youngsters did was really impressive. They were all keen to learn and picked up new techniques really quickly. Hillingdon Council's Fiesta programme provides some great opportunities for young people to try out activities and learn different skills. We would be delighted to see a few of them back on Uxbridge College's professional cookery courses in the years to come."
Tom Murphy, Head of Youth and Connexions at Hillingdon Council, said: "Well done to Nadia and all the other participants who took part in the workshops, it's great to have some budding young chefs in the borough. The Fiesta programme has been a great success this year with lots of young people trying out new activities and gaining qualifications whilst having fun."
Hillingdon Council's Fiesta programme offered a wide range of courses for youngsters including sport, media, dance, motor vehicle maintenance, first aid, and office skills.
The competition was attended by Peter O'Reilly from General Mills UK who also supported the cook-off.