Huge congratulations to TY student Ciaran Geary won the LCETB Shannon Region Junior Chef competition on Tuesday beating some incredible young talent on the day.
Report written by Ciaran Geary
My name is Ciarán Geary and this year I took part in the TY Culinary Course. I went into the course thinking it would simply be a good experience and something nice to talk about afterwards. However, it quickly became the highlight of my TY year, and I would highly recommend it to anyone thinking of applying.
Once the eight-week course had finished, another student and I were selected to return for the semi-final of the Shannon Region Junior Chef of the Year competition. There were ten students in total from schools across Limerick and Clare taking part. In the semi-final, we were challenged to create a chicken dish. We had 30 minutes to come up with our idea, followed by 1 hour and 30 minutes to prepare and serve it. The first day was a practice run, with the official competition taking place the following day.
I was delighted to be chosen as one of the four students to progress to the final. We were then given six weeks to prepare a two-course menu consisting of a main course and dessert. During this time, we received one-to-one mentoring from top chefs through the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board, which was a brilliant opportunity.
The final was held in Thomond Park on the 21st of April. Cooking in a professional kitchen was a completely new experience for all of us and on the day everything went right for me. I felt proud and satisfied as I finished plating up my dishes. We were judged by two of the top chefs in Ireland, Wade Murphy (owner of 1826, Adare) and Stephan Matz (Michelin Star Chef)
After the judges had made their decision, the finalists and our mentors were called onto the stage. After thanking the sponsors, the winner was finally announced. To my utter surprise, I was named Junior Chef of the Year.
I felt shock and happiness all at once. It was an absolute privilege to compete at this level for the school, and an even greater honour to win as the first student from Mungret to ever receive the title
