A TALENTED young cook from Lewdown has scooped a top prize after slaving over a hot stove with celebrated chef Michael Caines at the Exeter Festival of South West Food and Drink.

Chloe Crocker, 15, took part in the live cook off in front of an audience at the food festival held in the centre of Exeter on Saturday, May 5.

Chloe, who has her own flock of Poll Dorset sheep on the farm where she lives with her parents, cooked a two-course meal with local ingredients — all the while fielding questions from Michael Caines, who compered the contest.

The menu consisted of poached chicken breast with a leek and watercress sauce, a Scotch quail’s egg with Dauphinoise potatoes and Savoy cabbage with smoked bacon. It was followed by a pudding of lemon posset, chocolate tart, hazelnut brittle and, naturally, clotted cream.

Chloe was up against one other young cook from Devon, having won two heats, the first at her school Okehampton College and the semi-final at the Michael Caines Academy at Exeter College.

She was delighted to win, with Mr Caines presenting her with a glass trophy, a £150 cheque and a travel voucher from Stagecoach, who sponsored the contest along with the RAF.

Mum Sylvia said: ‘We are very proud of her. She didn’t get to go on stage until 4.30pm so it was a long day. We had to take all the ingredients with us, so it was a bit daunting to make sure we hadn’t forgotten anything. The ingredients had to all her as local as possible, so she did Scotch quails eggs with quails eggs from one of our neighbours, and she used sausage meat from another neighbour who has Tamworth pigs. Michael Caines asked about the sausage, and Chloe said they are from our neighbour who grows the pigs and fattens them up and puts them into sausages!

‘She got some advice from the second chef at Lewtrenchard Manor and he told her exactly how long to boil the quails eggs for so they were perfectly done.’

Chloe’s other mentor is her mum, and she helps her cook for bed and breakfast guests on their farm and at The Blue Lion Inn in Lewdown, where Sylvia works.

‘We are hoping at some point in the future to put Chloe’s menu on at the pub so that people can taste what she did for the competition,’ she said.