Winners in the Merseyside and Halton ‘Make 28 Taste Great’ recipe competition were announced at the Liverpool Food and Drink Festival.
The recipe competition – organised by Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority – was launched in response to the fact that 28% of waste in Merseyside and Halton is food waste. It looked to residents across the region for smart ways to use leftovers and ingredients to create healthy meals with a regional flavour.
Winners were announced in the Paul Askew Seafood Emporium at Liverpool Food & Drink Festival on what was the last day of National Zero Waste Week. The winners are:
Devon Crowley (age 15) from Heswall
Winner – age 11-18 Starters Category 2013
Devon cooked Cream Fields; Vegetable Soup with Crème fraîche
Georgia Barnabas (16) from Widnes.
Winner – age 11-18 Main Course Category 2013
Georgia’s recipe was Peawack & Chicken Pasta
Jordan Huyton (17) from Southport
Winner – age 11-18 Deserts and Drinks and age 11-18 Ambassador 2013
Jordan’s recipe was Mersey Forest Bread & Butter Pudding
David James Merrill (32) from Widnes.
Joint Winner – Starters Category 2013
David’s recipe was Christmas Leftovers Soup (Celeriac, Sprout & Bacon)
Denise Cullen (41) from Garston
Joint Winner – Starters Category 2013
Denise’s recipe was Fab Four Bruschetta Boats
Ann Griffiths (62) from Heswall
Joint Winner – Main Course Category 2013
Ann’s recipe was Whatever you make it! Sauce
Jude Samson (32) from Allerton (L18)
Joint Winner – Main Course Category and Ambassador 2013
Jude cooked Leftover Chicken Jambalaya
Vikki Chapman (32) from Wallasey
Winner – Desserts and Drinks Category 2013
Vikki’s recipe was Superlambanana Shake
The entries were judged by Widnes-born TV chef Brian Mellor and celebrated chef and Food Tourism Champion Paul Askew of Hope Street-based restaurant The London Carriage Works.
The ‘cook off’ event for the shortlisted contestants to decide the winning recipes took place in August at Liverpool Community College’s restaurant, The Academy.
The winners will have their recipes made into a new set of ‘regionally flavoured’ leftover recipe cards. The new cards will add a local twist to existing nationally available recipe cards used in the ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ campaign by MRWA and will be available at events and festivals as well as downloadable from www.recycleformerseysideandhalton.com.
Because the standard of entries was so high, eight recipe cards will be produced rather than six as originally planned.
Chef Brian Mellor said: “It is fantastic to see how inventive residents can be with leftovers and store cupboard ingredients. It was great spending a day with enthusiastic non-professional, home cooks at the cook-off and the decision was really difficult, helped by Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority and Marketing Projects who have agreed to sponsor eight rather than six recipes.”
From the eight winners, two have been selected as ambassadors for the ‘Make 28 Taste Great’ campaign for 2013/14. The ambassadors – Jude Samson and Jordan Huyton – will be working with Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority to show how food waste can be reduced in the region.
Paul Askew said: “This was an amazing opportunity to help reduce food waste and inspire Merseyside residents to cook inspirational dishes from leftovers. I look forward to seeing the recipe cards in October.”
Liverpool Councillor and Merseyside Recycling & Waste Authority Member, Laura Robertson-Collins, said: “It’s been really encouraging and rewarding to see so many people getting involved in the competition, we’ve engaged with over 20,000 residents.
“The enthusiasm of the entrants and quality of recipes shows that residents of Merseyside and Halton are getting the message that wasted food is wasted money. We’d like to thank all of our entrants and congratulate the winners. Hopefully they, like our ambassadors Jordan and Jude, will pass on these waste prevention messages to all their friends and family.”
Winners will also receive a box of seasonal vegetables from www.thecabbagebox.com.
Pictured above:( Left to right top ) Councillor Laura Robertson-Collins, Vikki Chapman, Denise Cullen, Paul Askew, Ann Griffiths, David James Merrill, MRWA Member Sefton Councillor Kevin Cluskey.(Left to right bottom): Jude Samson, Jordan Huyton, Devon Crowley
Pictured right: – Chef Paul Askew with Winner and Ambassador Jude Samson and her Cabbage Box fruit and veg box.
