District Cooking Competition 2007
This year’s District Cooking Competition took place at the 1st Wallington Scout Headquarters on Sunday 7th October 2007. The winners were the 5th Carshalton team who finished ten points clear of the second placed 3rd Beddington team; in third place was the 3rd Cheam team followed by teams from 1st Wallington, 5th Sutton and 8th Sutton Trinity Ben Nevis.
| Max | 8ST BN |
5S | 1W | 3CH | 3BD | 5CA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imaginative and Interesting Menu | 5 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Challenging Menu | 10 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Keeping to the Menu | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Keeping to Budget | 10 | 0* | 5 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 10 |
| Keeping to Time | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 10 |
| Content & Nutrition | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Setting Up | 10 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Edibility | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| Presentation | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Taste & Texture | 10 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 5** | 10 | 9 |
| Bonus Points | 10 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 0*** | 9 |
| Total | 90 | 59 | 60 | 71 | 73 | 74 | 84 |
| Position | 6th | 5th | 4th | 3rd | 2nd | 1st |
*No points awarded as we could not determine the amount spent from the paperwork provided.
**We had to deduct points here for the raw chicken.
***The dangerous and unacceptable behaviour of one individual prevented any bonus points from being awarded.
Congratulations to 5th Carshalton for an outstanding performance, and to all competitors for taking part. Standards generally were very high and every team should rightly be very pleased with their performance.
A number of people were heard remarking that the scores were very low given all the things that had been said about the food. To be clear, teams were marked not just on the end product but on the way that they approached the event as a whole. The food actually only accounts for about 15 of the 80 basic points available. We are also assessing your ability to plan a menu, keep to it (and to budget and to time), team work, hygiene, setting up (and, in bonus points, clearing away) etc. At the end of the day, a team that works hard together to produce a poor quality meal can still win if that meal is delivered on time, to budget and looks nice!
Some global observations, for teams wanting to take part again next year (which I hope you all will):
- Quantities are important – there were a couple of meals that were excellent quality but there just wasn’t enough of them! Teams need to produce a meal for four people within the budget.
- Keep to the theme – “One World, One Menu” was this year’s theme, and whilst every team approached it, some got closer than others. There was a heavy bias towards European food. The teams that did best on their menu were the ones who had each course from a different continent, not just a different country.
- Challenge yourselves – the more ambitious the menu, the more credit you’ll get for it, so long as you can pull it off. A variety of different cooking techniques and courses that need lots of preparation time stand out. We were particularly impressed with those teams that made sauces themselves, e.g. the Moroccan peanut curry, the Indian curry and the teriyaki sauces (but there were many others).
- Paperwork – one team let themselves down by not coming armed with the appropriate paperwork, which made it impossible for us to judge their budgeting and we had to award them 0 points for that element. When the competition is close, as it was, those are expensive points to lose.
- Team work – everyone in the team should have a role and be involved in all aspects, from setting up and cooking to clearing up and washing up. We were very impressed with the leadership of some teams, but in others we frequently saw the same individuals letting their team-mates do all the work. Equally, the whole team should be present when we inspect their meal, not just one while the others carry on washing up. The team has worked together to cook it and should work together to present it!
- Think veg – a number of points were lost because meals served were not balanced within themselves, i.e. there was too little green veg and/or fruit in them.
- Gas bottles – teams must allow the leaders on site to check their gas equipment before use, and when it is being dismantled. We had to deduct points where we were met with resistance in seeking to ensure safety.
I hope those are, as they are meant to be, helpful pointers for teams to work on for next year. I should comment again that the standard was very high and we were very impressed with all the teams. Marking was harsh because we had to find some way of distinguishing between six excellent entries, so all teams should be pleased with their results.
Thank you again for putting teams in and giving your Scouts the opportunity to take part, and thank you again to 1st Wallington for being excellent hosts.