Kids in the Kitchen duo cook up winning lamb cutlet dish

Cooking sensations Kaylee Sander, 16, and Bonnie Bruce, 15, who are students at WA College of Agriculture — Narrogin, won Wagin Woolorama’s inaugural Kids in the Kitchen cooking competition. The talented youngsters took home a generous CBH sponsored prize of $750 at the event held on March 7. All six teams of two students were presented with a certificate of recognition to ensure their culinary dreams remain steadfast. The winning dish, crusted French lamb cutlets, was from a recipe out of Kaylee’s mum’s kitchen. “It’s a totally original recipe and the sauce is the special thing — it has jus, quince jelly, seeded mustard, rosemary, and jollops,” Kaylee said. “It’s my favourite meal.” Kaylee and Bonnie are best mates and both were really excited with the win. “Our school chef informed us about the competition,” Bonnie said. While Kaylee dreams of becoming a farmer, Bonnie works in the Kerrie Bank kitchen in the Porongurups. Kids in the Kitchen was endorsed by WA Food Ambassador Don Hancey to empower youth across WA with the skills and knowledge to prepare healthy, culturally inspired dishes, using local ingredients. “This cooking competition is the perfect platform to showcase not only budding young cooks and wannabee chefs but also to put a spotlight on some of WA’s outstanding agricultural products and produce,” he said. “The participants had to submit a simple recipe and we selected the ones that were relevant and had local content. “Twelve passionate young foodies graced the food stage at Woolorama with competitors from five schools.” These included WA College of Agriculture – Narrogin, WA College of Agriculture — Harvey, Narrogin Senior High School, Wagin District High School, and Narrogin Primary School. “Whilst there was only one first prize, we have no doubt that all the competitors, aged from 10 to 16, were winners in their own right,” Hancey said. “All dishes were cooked in a 30-minute time period and awarded points on the use of local WA ingredients, how each dish tasted and presentation.” The two esteemed judges were CBH director Helen Woodhams, and the Nationals Roe MLA Peter Rundle, and Hancey was chair of the judges. The Kids in the Kitchen cooking competition was created by Hancey in Kununurra in 2014 when he was chief caterer for the Ord Valley Muster. Along with Albany Down South Creative’s principal Simone Klose, the cooking competition has been welcomed across regional WA. It has been delivered to the Kimberley, Gascoyne and Southern Forests regions. “The Kids in the Kitchen cooking is an excellent platform for WA’s youth to commence a pathway into the hospitality and food tourism industries based on awareness and use of local grown and harvested produce,” Hancey said. WAGIN WOOLORAMA KIDS IN THE KITCHEN TEAMS WA College of Agriculture — Narrogin Kaylee Sander, 16, and Bonnie Bruce, 15: Crusted French lamb cutlets (winning dish). Cody Edwin (Christian Fisher), 16, and Jesse Ives, 16: Citrus-honey duck tacos. WA College of Agriculture — Harvey Nadine Tame, 15, and Brianna Maher, 16: Lamb burger. Narrogin Senior High School Ellie Grout, 16, and Winter Alexander, 16: Wheatbelt steer & pier burger. Wagin District High School Ariah Clarke, 12, and Rachel Girling, 11: Australian egg fried rice. Narrogin Senior High School & Narrogin Primary School Bane Wereik-Dimer, 12, and Miles Wereik-Diner: Flipping good beef burger & buffalo milkshake.