Cookalooks Cookery School

Masterchef Australia & Masterchef South Africa had nothing on the Junior Masterchef held at Cookalooks this afternoon….man was I impressed.

12 young ladies celebrating Hannah’s 13th birthday party were given Pink & Green Masterchef aprons and split into 2 teams. A pressure test involving a culinary quiz and ‘do you know your herbs’ had the 2 teams scrambling for answers & sniffing herbs (all legal). The winners of the pressure test were given a 5 minute head start and 1st dibs at the mystery table of ingredients. A host of ingredients from chicken to veg to pasta and even 2 min noodles were on display to tempt the teams into creating a 2-course menu (starter & main course) in a 1h15min time period.

Teams were also instructed to design a logo and name their teams PLUS perform a short skit at the end of the cook-off show-casing their menu or dishes.

Now I’ve done loads of Masterchef Cook-Offs involving ‘big people’ but this was my 1st Junior one and I have to admit I was a little anxious. I’d had nightmares of tasting 2 min noodles & tuna concoctions or having to send 12x hungry young ladies home because the food they made was yuk!

The good news was I didn’t have to eat some concoction and spent the most enjoyable afternoon tasting tomato & onion bruschettas, mushroom skewers and roasted veggie tartlets and these were just the starters. For mains it was pasta…a chicken & mushroom pasta with a creamy white sauce (which by the way took a 1h15mins to make) was seriously yummy and beautifully seasoned. The second teams main course was a creamy tomato pasta with chicken and although not as good as the first team certainly was tasty.

While I tallied up the scores the girls tucked into their meals, sharing with one another and being ever so complimentary about each others dishes.

The winning team was announced …congratulations to the Green Pepper team….those tartlets did it for me!

The afternoon ended with a decadent chocolate cake (compliments of Cookalooks) and many a parent vowing never to cook another meal because their daughters can!

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