Young Chefs at Caribbean Challenge

The Caribbean Junior Duelling Competition is here again, and Saint Lucia is participating in the tough culinary battle against some of the region’s best Junior Chefs. SLHTA’s Junior Culinary Team left for Barbados earlier this week for the annual Caribbean Junior Duelling Challenge and Conference, August 19th to 24th 2015.

The team representing Saint Lucia comprises the winners of the SLHTA Chefs in Schools Cook-off competition which was held in Dennery. Nicola Esnard and Kurtney Gill of the Soufriere Comprehensive Secondary School are the champions of the competition for the 2nd year in a row. The students have been training with renowned Gold Medalist Chef Elijah Jules of Jade Mountain. Upon Chef Elijah’s return from the Taste of the Caribbean Competition in Miami, he devoted his time training young aspiring junior chefs at secondary school level through the SLHTA Chefs in Schools Programme.

Team member Nicola Esnard is 18 years old and a recent graduate of the Soufriere Comprehensive Secondary School. She is an aspiring chef who dreams of becoming an Executive Chef and owner of a chain of fine dining restaurants internationally. Her ultimate goal is to compete in one of the Chopped Competitions abroad and to gain the coveted title of Chopped Champion. Nicola is passionate about cooking and competing. To her the sky is the limit.

Kurtney Gill is 17 years old, also a recent graduate of the Soufriere Comprehensive Secondary School. He dreams of becoming an owner of a fine dining restaurant in New York. He plans to attend culinary school in Panama in two years time and is passionate about cooking. His mentor is his mother who is a cook at Sugar Beach, A Viceroy Resort.

Accompanying the couple is apprenticeship coordinator, Wendel George of the SLHTA, and Food & Nutrition teacher Nashaka Henry of the Soufriere Comprehensive Secondary School.