The second phase of the Apprentice Chef sponsored by Fáilte Ireland and Flogas will commence on March 8^th and 9^th, with a series of cook-offs held at the Institute of Technology Tralee for 50 talented students.

Over 600 students from secondary schools and youth reach centres from across Munster will attend Apprentice Chef Workshops held at the Institute of Technology Tralee and The institute of Technology Waterford.  Qualifying secondary schools were selected from some 60 schools who entered to take part in the apprentice chef 2017/2018

A series of second cook-offs, for another 50 students will take place at the end of March in Waterford IT for students from Waterford and the Eastern region.

Mark Doe, Apprentice Chef Co-founder and Mentor stated, “This is the 6^th year of running the project and to date we have had in excess of 4,000 students take part. The outcome is very positive and we are really looking forward to a future national roll out of the project in the coming years.  The Apprentice Chef challenge is for students to create a recipe for a main course using only ingredients that reflect ‘Good Mood Food’. Students also have to submit a project relating to their dish which includes nutritional values. The chosen students work with industry leading chefs who are their mentors during the process. Following the cook-off successful candidates will then progress to the Apprentice Chef Final in May 2018. The selection of the winners will be based on the presentation, quality and the skills demonstrated in compiling the project and their chosen dish.”

Mark Murphy, Lecturer of culinary arts at IT Tralee and Apprentice Chef Co-founder added, “The project has gone from strength to strength and we are now seeing a large number of the students who have taken part over the years, looking at a career in the culinary and food industry. This is a unique opportunity for students and teachers to work with industry leading chefs and to have tangible learning outcomes after being involved in the apprentice chef.”

The Overall Winner of The Apprentice Chef will receive €1,000 worth of cooking equipment for their school, monogrammed an apprentice chef uniform, a just cooking cook book, a set of professional chefs knives, a cookery work shop in their school with the apprentice chef team, a year’s subscription to Easy Food magazine and a specially commissioned Ambrí  chopping board. Runners up receive a monogrammed apprentice chef uniform, Ambrí board, Just Cooking cook book and a set of professional cook knives.

Mark Murphy added” We are not only promoting healthier eating, but also opening up avenues of secondary school students to enter the food industry and food studies at 3^rd level. The apprentice chef team are also here to guide students who may consider the food industry as a career choice and can help them take the right path. To date we have placed students for work experience in some of Irelands leading hotels including the 5 star Merrion hotel in Dublin.”