Care provider Ideal Carehomes has launched an ‘Ideal MasterChef’ cooking competition with the help of celebrity chef and ‘Ready Steady Cook’ star Ainsley Harriott.
Kitchen teams from 23 care homes across Yorkshire, the North West and Midlands have been ‘whisking up a storm’ as part of the operator’s latest training and development initiative in association with Brakes Foodservices.
The contest comes via the Ideal Academy, which supports staff through their career development and skills training using targeted E-learning and specialist workshops. Celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott was excited to hear about the competition and sent a special video message which includes a culinary poem that he penned himself.
Ainsley said: “I wish all the Ideal Carehomes cooks the best of luck. I think the competition is really exciting and the idea of being crowned national ‘Ideal MasterChef’ is absolutely brilliant! I hope you all have a fantastic time and remember to enjoy yourselves; cooking is fun and a freedom of expression and, when you do it right, it can be brilliant! Good luck to you all!”
The contest, which is set to be held in accordance with current government guidelines, gives the kitchen teams an arena to showcase their talents as each home grills, steams or scrambles to win their regional heat to go through to the national final held at Brakes Development Kitchen later in the year. The participants will prepare a main course and dessert for a panel of expert judges and will be scored on areas such as nutritional value, budget, taste and presentation.
Anna Lewandowska, Kitchen Manager at Fairway View in Nottingham, said: “The health and wellbeing of our residents is absolutely paramount and each meal that we create is cooked with our residents in mind. We always ensure our dishes are healthy and nutritious, whilst also incredibly tasty. I am delighted that we have centre stage to display our cooking and show how every meal we make is much more than just breakfast, lunch or dinner. I am looking forward to our first heat – we plan to knock the judges socks off with some of our residents’ favourite dishes!”
