After an exciting final held on the first morning of the Christchurch Food & Wine Festival, Shaydel Ramajan from Twynham School has been named Christchurch Junior Cook of the Year in a competition organised by Christchurch Food Festival Education Trust and sponsored by Christchurch Rotary.

Shaydel had the daunting task of cooking before a live audience against the three other finalists, Annabel Sami from Highcliffe School, Ryan Barker from The Grange School and Amelia Preston from Twynham School. But his dish of Moroccan lamb kebabs with spiced couscous impressed the judges so much that he was declared the winner.

The judges, Festival patron Lesley Waters, Christchurch Rotary President Ian Macdonald and the Food Festival’s Chairman Tim Lloyd, had the unenviable duty of choosing between the excellent dishes served up by all four finalists.

Lesley Waters said: “The standard of the dishes this year has been absolutely amazing and it was very hard for us to choose a winner. In the end we opted for Shaydel because his dish was innovative, delicious and so healthy.”

All four students, along with runners up from each school, were presented with a piece of cookware kindly donated by Run Cookware, Lesley Waters and Jamie Oliver cookbooks. The four finalists also received an invitation to spend a day at Lesley Waters’ cookery school in West Dorset. In addition, Shaydel won a meal for four at the Christchurch Harbour Hotel. Each of the secondary schools taking part also received a cheque for £250.

On the same day, the winner of the Primary Schools’ Healthy Meal on a Plate competition was chosen.

The contestants had to make an artistic representation of a healthy meal which they themselves would be able to cook. Finalists from St Mark’s Highcliffe Primary, St Joseph’s Primary, Somerford Primary and The Priory School displayed their work and were interviewed about their design.

After another difficult choice, the judges eventually declared Connie Lane from St Marks Primary School to be the winner.

Mary Reader, Festival President and one of the trustees of the Education Trust, said: “The dishes which the primary school children have come up with show that they really understand what a healthy meal is. Our aim as a Trust is to encourage healthy eating, so it is very encouraging to see these pupils taking it on board.”