Healthy Home Chef competition turns up the heat at ATU with celebrity chef Neven Maguire

Wednesday, May 08, 2024
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The food labs at ATU were in full flow recently with the return of the Healthy Home Chef Cooking Competition held last week (30 April and 1 May) at ATU St Angelas campus with celebrity chef Neven Maguire keeping score.

Open to junior and senior secondary school students, the all-island event was an opportunity for young people to create tasty, nutritious, and affordable meals at home.
Entries came from all parts of the country who submitted their culinary ideas for consideration. 

From this a select few were shortlisted as finalists in both junior and senior categories who were then invited to the campus to recreate their dishes before a panel of judges including award winning chef and TV presenter, Neven Maguire.


Dr Elaine Mooney, Director of the National Centre of Excellence for Home Economics at ATU St Angelas welcomed the return of the competition, “this is an event we really look forward to every year as it’s a great way to connect with young people who already have a passion and flair for food”. “The standards they bring get better and better each year and it’s no small testament to their Home Economics teachers who clearly see great potential in them”.


As guest judge, Neven Maguire admits it was no easy job to select the winners, “these talented young people bring a vibrancy to the kitchen each and every year and really put their skills into their chosen dishes. If they enjoy what they’re doing, enjoy creating these amazing dishes to share with others, then they are all winners in my opinion”.


The event concluded with a prize-giving ceremony which included a range of vouchers as well as kitchen equipment for the winning schools. Winning students came from schools across counties; Roscommon, Kildare, Armagh, Cork and Mayo. 


This year’s winners are:
Juniors:
Juliet Jaison, Junior Gold Winner (Convent of Mercy, Roscommon).
Meadbh Hartnett, Junior Silver Winner (Holy Family, Kildare).
Anna Owen, Junior Bronze Winner (Clounagh Junior High School, Portadown)
Seniors:
Poppy Kilpatrick, Senior Gold Winner (Skibbereen Community School, Cork).
Meabh Golding, Senior Silver Winner (Balla Secondary School, Mayo)
Thien Laitenberger, Senior Bronze Winner (Sancta Maria College, Mayo).

 

 


Aidan Haughey 
ATU Communications Manager /
Bainisteoir Cumarsáide OTA
Ollscoil Teicneolaíochta an Atlantaigh (OTA), Éire
Atlantic Technological University (ATU), Ireland       
Tel: +353 86 086 6913
www.atu.ie/communications