FOUR young catering students from Darlington College have been named Rockliffe Hall’s “Aspiring Chefs of the Year”.

The talented chefs will now showcase their culinary skills at one of the dining events at the hotel's forthcoming Festival of Food.

The students were invited to create an aspirational three course banqueting lunch menu, inspired by the North East of England.

Brandon Vize, 18, from Catterick, won the starter course with his beetroot crumbed goats cheese with candied walnuts and Parma ham.

Brandon's winning dish, above

The main course was won by Michelle Goldsbury, 18, from Darlington, with her guinea fowl ballotine with chicken and black pudding mousse.

Hannah Sloane, 17, from Darlington, won the fish course with her monkfish wrapped in Parma ham with puy lentil ragu.

While the dessert course was won by Jade Williams, 17, of Crakehall, with her brownie baked Alaska.

Jade's winning dessert, above

Executive chef Aaron Craig said: “Everyone who entered this competition created fantastic dishes and it was difficult to choose the winners, so we ended up selecting four, rather than three, to cook their dishes again at the winners’ luncheon.

"All the Rockliffe chefs are passionate about helping develop future chef talent and we hope this competition has helped inspire the next generation.”

Testing their skills

Dawn Cobb-Neate, senior lecturer in catering at the college, added: “Darlington College is delighted to be part of the Aspiring Chefs of the Year competition.

"To give our students the opportunity to produce such high quality food in the presence of inspirational chefs is great to build their confidence and allow them to showcase their talents to the industry.

"The catering team is always seeking new opportunities to expose our students to new culinary challenges and expand their knowledge to equip them to be fantastic chefs of the future.”

To book a place on the winners’ luncheon on Saturday, February 9 call 01325-729999.