A CULINARY count-down cooking competition saw pupils at Helena Romanes School battling against the clock to cook a dish in 15 minutes. Called On Your Marks… Get Set, Cook! the event was organised by school catering company Scolarest in partnership with th

A CULINARY count-down cooking competition saw pupils at Helena Romanes School battling against the clock to cook a dish in 15 minutes.

Called On Your Marks... Get Set, Cook! the event was organised by school catering company Scolarest in partnership with the school and involved two teams consisting of two students from Year 8 and one adult racing against the clock to create the best healthy dish from a selection of ingredients.

Head teacher Simon Knight and red team member, said: "We were very pleased to host this colourful event promoting healthy eating. It was great fun.

"Our students have a good attitude to food and have responded well to the changes in the school's catering."

The competition was part of Scolarest's Putting Fun Back into Food campaign, which aims to get students interested in good food and healthy eating through events such as On Your Marks, cooking classes for parents and children.

Darren Tinkler, Scolarest development chef, said: "The live cook-off was really exciting and enabled students to learn some hands-on cookery skills." The winning team was red team Jane Kelsey, Ben Brown and head teacher Simon Knight. They cooked pork balls and stir-fry noodles with vegetables.