A FORMER Okehampton College student has this week received national recognition, just months after starting on the road to becoming a top West Country chef.
Andrew Lester, aged 16, was the first student to enrol at Percy?s Academy of Culinary Excellence at Virginstowe this July, where he is taking a two-year apprenticeship under the expert eye of top chef Tina Bricknell-Webb.
Now he has been announced as one of the six finalists in the student chef category of the prestigious national British Meat Chef of the Year competition.
Working at Percy?s Country Hotel and Restaurant, Andrew has had to design, cost and show cooking times for a main course, using either British pork, lamb or beef.
On the strength of this paper entry, he now goes through to a live ?cook-off? final being held at the British Meat headquarters in Milton Keynes on February 3.
Andrew said he was ?chuffed to bits? at the good news.
?It?s excellent ? I couldn?t believe it, I never thought I would get this far this quickly,? he said.
?It?s going to be a bit nerve-wracking ? I?ve never cooked in front of judges before, although I?m quite confident of the actual cooking.?
Andrew said he was looking forward to the challenge and hoped the judges would like his dish.
He will have just an hour to prepare roast loin of home reared lamb with lavender and sweet marjoram, thyme and broad bean mash, choggia barbietola beetroot and perpetual spinach ? all from scratch.
Andrew, who is working towards an NVQ as part of his course, said: ?When I came for my interview, I could never have imagined all the different skills that I would learn.
?Tina has taught myself and the other students everything, from the basics of organic horticulture through to different ways of adding value when butchering a carcass.
?Tina has not only given me the confidence to throw dinner parties for my friends and family but also to help the other students who are just starting.?
Percy?s Academy was created as a response to the skills shortage in this area?s hospitality industry and of the UK as a whole.
It has already proved popular with West Devon school leavers looking to embark on a top flight, rewarding career.
Tina Bricknell-Webb said she was delighted at Andrew?s success and hoped all the students at the academy would soon be achieving similar
standards.
Tina said: ?The reason we set this course up was to offer something to these bright students that isn?t catered for elsewhere. We are looking for kids who really want to go all the way and have a really worthwhile career,? she said.
?It?s such an exciting time for us and I think Andrew is going to have a ball this year, when we get the next batch of students on board.
?The enthusiasm and the vibrancy about the place with these kids is wonderful.?
Tina said Andrew was ?very capable? and she hoped Percy?s Academy would help him achieve his goals in the future.