A young Burnham-On-Sea master chef has excelled in the regional finals of a top cooking competition, finishing in the last eight of around 2,000 students.
Poppy Mackay, from King Alfred School Academy in Highbridge, has received huge praise for her performance at the Springboard Futurechef competition in the regional final after doing well at the local rounds last month.
Poppy added to her local final dish for the regional final after being paired with a mentor James Stamp to enhance her skills for the final held at Taunton’s Bridgwater and Taunton College facilities.
James and Poppy had Zoom calls to enhance her dish from the local final and develop her skills further.
Poppy made a main dish of pan-fried duck breast with spiced orange and cranberry sauce, fondant potatoes, creamed cabbage and celeriac and parsnip puree, followed by a dessert of chocolate souffle with a succulent raspberry sorbet.
She is now looking forward to the Rotary Regional final on February 25th, when she will be cooking a three-course meal.
She is learning from every competition and taking the feedback from the judges to enhance her cooking skills.
Poppy has high hopes of a career in the food industry having secured herself a work experience role at the Michelin star Olive Tree restaurant in Bath.
Teacher Natasha King said: “I am very proud of Poppy’s achievements. Poppy goes after what she wants, spending time herself practising the dishes at home and perfecting her skills for the competitions.”
“She has great ideas and takes on board feedback from the chef judges to ensure she is always improving and developing her skills.“
