02 November 2012
Ireland’s top chefs have some tough new competitors after ten amateur cooks picked up awards at the Easy Food Home-Cook Hero awards in Dublin today.
30 finalists, from as young as five years of age, gathered in Cook’s Academy on South William Street this morning to prepare the recipes they entered in the competition for esteemed judges Kevin Dundon, Catherine Fulvio, Catherine Leydon as well as Gina Miltiadou of Easy Food magazine and Vanessa Greenwood of Cooks Academy.
After much deliberation, the judges eventually decided on one winner in each of the ten competition categories with the awards going to:Easy food Home Cook Hero Award Winners:
Category | Sponsor | Winner |
Cáca Milis- the best cakes and bakes. | Homecook Baking | Karyn Ryan, Navan, Co. Meath |
Catch of the Day - the best recipe using fish | IASC | Nur Farah Afigah Ahmad Zaini, Dublin |
Larder Luck - the best recipe using store- cupboard staples. | Heinz | Stacey Carr-Kennedy, Donegal |
Take 5: the best recipe using only 5 ingredients | Kenwood | Olive O’Donnell, Cork |
Best Burger- The best home-made burger recipe | Mr Crumb | Ethna Reynolds, Donegal |
Fabulous Fowl- the best chicken dish. | Moy Park | Radka Zacharova, Dublin |
Squisito- popular Italian-style dishes | Castelli | Veruska Anconitano, Dublin |
Start Your Day…The Honey Way – The best recipes using honey | Boyne Valley Honey | Osna Campbell, Dublin
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Deli-Delicious- The best recipe using ingredients from the deli counter | Horgan’s | Vanessa Mifsud, Dublin |
Tiny Tastes - the best kiddie-friendly recipe. | Easy Parenting | Shauna Gilbride, Longford (Age 11) |
The winners were officially announced at a gala black tie event at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin this evening with each successful entrant receiving €1,500 worth of prizes and the honour of having their recipes published in the upcoming Easy Food Home-Cook Hero Awards Cookbook.
In addition a certificate of commendation went to Stacey Carr Kennedy from Donegal for ‘Overall Skill’s in the competition. Stacey, who entered last year, impressed the judges with her creativity, speed and expertise in in creating her unique dish “Stacey’s Spicy Beef Surprise’.
Commenting on the awards Gina Miltiadou, Co-Founder of Zahra Publishing, who created the awards said “The standard of entries this year was extremely high and made our job as judges very difficult. It is truly amazing to see the wealth of culinary talent out there in people as young as five years of age! This is what this event is all about: celebrating ordinary people’s extraordinary cooking skills, regardless of their age.
On behalf of Easy Food I would like to congratulate everyone who entered the competition and in particular our 10 Home-Cook Heroes tonight”. The Easy Food Home-Cook Hero Awards is a national cookery competition, which is open to all home-cooks and aspiring chefs. Now in its second year the awards celebrate people of all ages who simply love to cook. For more information and images visit www.homecookhero.ie
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