Tina giving the pack their first lessons in Chinese Cookery

Once... twice... Three times a winner?

Unfortunately not! It was probably a bit too much to expect to win the District Cubs Cookery Competition 3 years in a row. But the team put in a good effort!

On Tuesday 12th February the cub pack had a team entered into the District Cub Cooking Competiton. This was a competition that we had been fortunate enough to win for the last two years. But before the competition got underway we had to narrow down an eager group of cubs into a team of four!

A few weeks previously Tina Bowker and Amanda Booth had come along to our cub night to instruct the cubs in their chinese cuisine. On the menu was Prawn and Pork Parcels with Sweet Chilli Dipping Sauce followed by Chicken in Black Bean Sauce and Rice with a chilli flower - sounds delicious. After a run through the menu, it was then down to the cubs themselves (with a little help from leaders and helpers!) to get on with their creations! All the cubs acquitted themselves well leaving the leaders with a very tough decision as to who should be on the team - knowing that we would clearly disappoint some people.

Finally, a team was chosen: Louis Tudor, Elliot Aitken-Clarke, Billy Cooper and Lottie Cunningham.

The following week this team had their final run through the menu - to give them a good understanding of what was required, again tutored by Tina. Then it was competition time!

Let the cooking commence...

Up against 7 other cub groups, our team got stuck in to creating their Chinese New Year celebratory dish. As the leaders sat drinking coffee in a back room (we weren't allowed near!!! that's cheating!) the aroma of delicious foods kept floating through the air. Not only did the cubs have to cook their menu - they also had to present it in a restaurant style as well! Everything had to look good for the judges!

It's all in the presentation!

So finally it was judging time. After deliberations by the judges (including tasting all the foods... lucky so and so's!!) the points were allocated and the cubs were assembled to reveal the winners. In a very tight competition (there was only ten points in between the winners and the bottom team - it was that close), we unfortunately missed out on the top two places which were held by 308th who won, closely followed by 346th who came in second just one point behind! Our team were disappointed - but they had no reason to be downhearted. They had done their best and that is all a cub can do.

Speaking to the cubs afterwards, they all said they had had a good time competing in the competition despite their disappointment at not winning. 

Never mind.. there is always next year!

     

The finished product

  

Phil
Assistant Cub Leader

www.224manchesterscouts.co.uk