Cook up a delicious dish with surplus food and you could win this Sheffield competition

Aspiring cooks have the chance to show off their culinary skills with a new cooking contest which asks chefs to make dishes using surplus food.
From left, Emma Van Breemen, Charlotte Rhoades, Amber Wilson, Hannah Williams and Emily RedfernFrom left, Emma Van Breemen, Charlotte Rhoades, Amber Wilson, Hannah Williams and Emily Redfern
From left, Emma Van Breemen, Charlotte Rhoades, Amber Wilson, Hannah Williams and Emily Redfern

The #BeatTheSheff contest asks amateur cooks to create a cook a meal made using surplus ingredients, and then post a photo of it on social media.

The competition has been organised by students Amber Wilson, Emma Van Breemen, Charlotte Rhoades, Hannah Williams and Emily Redfern from Sheffield Hallam University who are studying International Events Management with Experiential Marketing.

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The group have been asked to run a live event as part of their degree and are working alongside Sheffield-based organisation Food Works to help reduce food waste across the city. People are welcome to make sweet or savoury dishes.

Emma said they hoped to find some of Sheffield’s best home cooks.

She added: “The dishes have to demonstrate how they are utilising surplus food by preventing it from going to waste, other ingredients can be added of course but we want to explore new ways and learn from each other how we can repurpose surplus.

“Our aim is to create a fun, interactive and educational competition based on encouraging the people of Sheffield to be mindful of waste, whilst providing tips and tricks of the small things we can all do to make a big difference.”

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Interested chefs are asked to please submit the photo of their dish online by 12pm on March 13. Six semi-finalists will then be chosen by the students to take part in a live cook-off on March 20.

Three independent judges, including senior lecturer at Sheffield Hallam in Culinary Arts James Ellerby and Development and Engagement Manager at Food Works Josie McCullen, will decide which three semi-finalists will go on to the final.

They will judge them based on their creativity, the taste of their food and taste and their contribution to food waste reduction.

The three finalists will cook against a professional chef, before one of them is crowned Sheffield's best home cook and take home a grand prize.

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To enter the competition, cook your dish, snap a photo of it and share it on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Tag @thefoodworkssf in your post, and include hashtags #RepurposeYourSurplus and #BeatTheSheff. Chefs, aged 16 plus, can enter as many dishes as they like.

Follow @BeatTheSheff on Instagram for more information.