CELEBRITY chef Peter Gorton may know a thing or two about getting the best out of his staff but how will he cope with a group of ten-year-olds who can't tell their bream from their brisket?
A new television series, 'Little Chefs', starting on Sunday (August 10), will reveal all.
Mr Gorton, who is head chef and co-owner of the Horn of Plenty Hotel at Gulworthy, will be working with fellow chef stars Lesley Waters and Matt Corner and children from a primary school in Cornwall, Devon and Dorset.
Each chef will be assigned a team of three children from each school and the series will follow them as they take on a new culinary challenge every week, from making tasty chocolates to sizzling starters.
They will visit various locations exploring what the West Country has to offer in terms of food, producers and recipes.
As their skills develop the youngsters earn points from special panels of judges towards the grand finale when one of the region's top chefs and restaurateurs, Michael Caines from Gidleigh Park Hotel, Chagford, and food writer Mich Turner judge some specially prepared menus and decide on the winning team who will be crowned the Little Chefs Champion 2008.
There are six programmes in the series which will be screened on ITV Westcountry at 6pm. Peter Gorton said this early evening showing means that children as well as parents can enjoy the show: 'It's about educating children and having fun,' he said. 'Each week their skills get better and so do mine. We found that each child had a special skill like chopping, mixing or reading recipes.
Mr Gorton will be working with Compton School in Plymouth where he already formed a link by bringing cooking into the national curriculum: ' I love working with children and I would like to work with other schools in the future,' he said.
'We have taken a curriculum subject like the Romans and cooked some Roman food so it is a way of extending children's knowledge of food and ingredients.'