STC dominates at ESF Masterchef

Sha Tin College emerged as the undisputed victors of the 2015 ESF Masterchef Competition.

Martha Chow & Laura Chan, and Shimali de Silva were crowned ESF Masterchefs in the Junior and Senior categories respectively. Each of our winners were handed the prize of a $1000 coupon at the Fish & Meat restaurant, a cookbook written by students from Island School, a basket of cooking utensils and tools, and a beautiful trophy to bring home. It is the second consecutive year in which our school has won both titles in the ESF Masterchef competition.

The competition, which was held at STC, put our home contenders against the best chefs from King George V School, Island School, and South Island School. Contestants were expected to make two vegetarian courses (consisting of a main dish and a dessert) based on the theme ‘Veggies can be edgy, fruits can be funky’.

“We feel that our ‘Courgette Fettuccine twist’ … displays our creativity and ability in the field of Food Technology as advanced techniques were used in creating this pasta roll”, said Laura Chan and Martha Chow. “Our ‘Floating Market dessert’ … provides a contrast to our flavourful main course.”

Laura and Martha’s ‘Floating Market dessert’.

Throughout the cooking process, the students displayed their exceptional culinary and presentational skills, as well as exhibited their excellent co-operational skills. The dishes, which ranged from pineapple curries and chocolate truffles to beetroot tarts and handmade raviolis, were equally impressive. The judges expressed how impressed they were by the variety of dishes that they were presented with, as well as by the level of skill demonstrated in their dishes.

“It was a really difficult for us to make a final choice as they were all so different,” said ESF Chief Executive Officer Mrs. Belinda Greer. “The dishes were restaurant standard.”

Mrs. Greer and Mr. Michaud tasting the dishes!

Mr. Gregoire Michaud, judge and Founder of Bread Elements, agreed.

“As an experienced chef myself, I would be pleased if I was served food like this at a restaurant,” commented Mr. Michaud. “The dishes were very well balanced and worked together very well.”

“We don’t do Science nor Maths in our school, all we do in Sha Tin College is Food Tech,” Mr. Morris quipped. The teachers of Sha Tin College were very pleased with this year’s results and urged the winners to continue developing their skills and passion for the culinary arts. “We couldn’t have won without the guidance and kind support from Ms. Cottam and Ms. Reed,” said STC champions Laura and Martha.

The event was sponsored by Island School’s Parent Teacher Association and Maximal Concepts, which provided the contest with many delightful prizes for the winners. In addition to Mrs. Greer and Mr. Michaud; Maximal Concepts’ Brand & Marketing manager Tony Magnetic; as well as Simon Hill, Operation Manager of the Culinary Institute of Hong Kong; were also present as judges.

Congratulations to our winners; all of you worked really hard and deserved the result! Special thanks to Ms. Cottam, Ms. Reed, Ms. Marshall, Ms. Harvey and our hard-working food technicians for organizing the competition and supporting the STC contestants all along the way, our guests for being such great sports and joining us in the competition, and our judges for coming in and sharing the experience with us!