Swansea Uni undergrad crowned Bacofoil Student Cook of the Year

Swansea University student Zoe Edwards has been crowned Bacofoil Student Cook of the Year after shining in the high-pressure cook-off final at Cactus Kitchen in Clapham, London.

To celebrate the UK’s budding undergraduate foodies, Bacofoil launched its first ever Student Cook of the Year competition in September 2014, inviting students to enter the competition by posting on Facebook or tweeting a photo of one of their culinary creations along with the name of the dish and the hashtag #BacofoilStudentCook (you can check out the submissions on the Bacofoil website).

All the entries were then judged based on their presentation and creativity. Sadly for Andrew Sav, his ‘Tesco Value baked beans on toast with burnt halloumi’ failed to make the grade, but there was better news for Ryan Hemming (studying Medicine at the University of Manchester), Zoe Edwards (studying Zoology at Swansea University) and Anahita Asadi (studying Economics & Finance, also at the University of Manchester), who were all invited to the grand finale in London on Friday 23 January.

The three finalists were given a recipe and ingredients for salmon in puff pastry, and left to add their own creative flair. Ninety minutes later, the contestants had to present their masterpieces to the judging panel, which comprised Janine Ratcliffe (Food Editor of Olive magazine), Sam Stern (celebrity chef and author), Alice Thomson (journalist for The Times), Justine Kanter (founder of Kitchen Coach) and Melissa Dickinson (Marketing Manager at Bacofoil).

Having tasted all of the finalists’ dishes and rated their presentation, the judging panel – after much deliberation – chose Zoe Edwards’ salmon in puff pastry with a potato salad side as the winner, awarding her the coveted title of Student Cook of the Year and a £1,000 voucher for groceries. The two runners-up each received £100 and an engraved serving spoon, with all three finalists also taking home a bag of Bacofoil goodies.

Janine Ratcliffe explained the judges’ decision, saying: ‘I was really impressed with the standard of cooking from the students in the competition – it was a very close-run thing and extremely tough to judge. Fish and pastry cooking are both very tricky areas, so the fact that they all turned out great plates at the end was admirable. In the end, Zoe’s eye for detail and inventive use of the ingredients just edged her the winner’s place.’

As the champagne flowed, a delighted Zoe Edwards enthused: ‘After a tense few minutes before being told I’d won the Bacofoil Student Cook of the Year title, a whole mix of emotions were running through my mind. Cooking has always been a huge part of my childhood, and my family life in general – spurring from my parents, who always inspired me to cook. When my name was announced, I was over the moon – being recognised for being just more than a ‘cook’ is an amazing feeling!

‘My friend mentioned the Student Cook of the Year competition to me, seeing as I am such a foodie… and as soon as I entered, lots of my other friends commended me on entering and wished me luck as they knew I had a chance! It was an amazing experience all in all, and I am just so happy to have won!’

You can find out more about the competition from the Bacofoil website.