THE latest community news from Tywyn

Rotary Club Junior Chef of the Year 2019

THE Junior Chef of the Year competition was introduced at Ysgol Uwchradd Tywyn for younger pupils in KS3 as a ‘taster’ to the nationwide annual Rotary Club Young Chef of the Year for pupils in KS4.

Four of the eight pupils competing this year had already tested their skills in last year’s Junior chef competition and were back to experience the friendly rivalry again.

Ovens were lit, recipes were produced, aprons were donned and palette knives were drawn between brother and sister rivals Cameron and Alison Beard!

The competitors were tasked with creating a new and exciting version of ‘Afternoon Tea’.

Afternoon Tea has been a ‘thing’ in Britain for almost 180 years, evolving as a mini meal to stem the hunger and anticipation of an evening meal.

Pupils were asked to produce sweet items, which could be cakes/cupcakes, tarts/tray bakes or their own version of the traditional Victoria sponge and jam scones - all of which should be just that little bit extra special.

All eight certainly delivered, and caused great difficulty for the guest judge Pippa Rollings and her assistant Megan Jones.

Both judges have been studying catering at CMD and have regularly been on the receiving end of having their food offerings scrutinised and judged.

Pippa is an ex-pupil, a Junior Chef winner, a runner up in the Young Chef competition, and won the Hybu Cig Cymru Lamb Burger competition, demonstrating at the Royal Welsh Show. She has recently enjoyed two weeks work experience in a 4-star hotel in Tuscany, Italy, and was voted Catering Student of the Year 2018-2019.

When the two hours preparation time was up, all the bakes were brought to the table, and the hard work began.

The judges tested and tasted each cake thoroughly – it was an extremely difficult job! They took notes on taste, appearance and techniques used, then retired to consider the winners.

After much washing up, assisted by some supportive parents, the judges finally emerged and before announcing the winners, praised all the competitors on the standard of their bakes and gave feedback to each chef. These were their comments:

Tilly Jones – chocolate profiteroles: the judges were impressed with Tilly’s use of advanced technique making her own crème diplomat - extremely tasty profiteroles.

Olivia Clewett – chocolate orange bakewell tarts: The judges were pleased there were no soggy bottoms, despite the pastry being slightly thick, and felt the marmalade complimented the chocolate

Heledd Owen – blueberry scones, lemon creams, lemon shortbread cookies and Mars Bars Squares: the use of blueberries in the scones added extra moisture; each layer of her bakes added an extra dimension, with all the elements working well. Good presentation.

Elise Hughes – Lemon cake: the judges found the lemon sponge really light and an excellent colour, a good twist on the classic traditional Victoria Sponge.

Alison Beard – Victoria Sponge: the judges felt Alison’s sponge was a perfect example of the traditional Victoria sponge, and whilst it didn’t fit in with the brief of being the pupil’s ‘own’ version of a Victoria sponge, she should be very proud of her exceptional sponge.

Jasmine Gressler – chocolate layer cake: the judges were very impressed with the height of the cake and added that some of the fruit used to decorate the outside of the cake would have worked better being added to the layers inside

Cameron Beard – brownie: the judges felt the brownie was extremely tasty and the walnuts added to the deep chocolate taste. They felt it was a little bit crumbly, perhaps having been in the oven for slightly too many minutes.

Alex Dixon – white choc chip Blondies: the judges liked the colour of Alex’s Blondie (a brownie using white chocolate instead of dark) and liked the bright pink strawberry icing.

Pippa and Megan said they were very impressed with the variety and standard of all the bakes which had made their work in deciding on winners very difficult.

They announced the results in reverse order: in 3rd place was Jasmine Gressler, 2nd place went to Tilly Jones, with Heledd Owen receiving 1st prize.

Miss Tronet thanked Pippa and Megan for their hard work and feeback and congratulated all the competitors on their cooking skills, saying she was very proud of them all. The winners would be presented with their cash prizes from the Rotary Club of Tywyn on the following day: 1st prize £25, 2nd prize £10 and 3rd prize £5.

As all the recipes had proved so successful, it was decided that these bakes would be just perfect for use in the afternoon tea at the school’s Awards Afternoon in September.

All eight contestants would have a ‘buddy’ from year 10 GCSE catering students to reproduce their recipes together during morning lessons before the event.

This will be an excellent showcase for their talents and also the generosity of both the Rotary Club of Tywyn, who sponsor the event and Co-op Tywyn, who will again be providing the school with all the ingredients for the afternoon’s tea free of charge.

Pictured: Winner Heledd with Miss Tronet and judges.

History society

AT the June meeting the society was pleased to welcome Dylan Foster Evans, head of the Department of Welsh at Cardiff University, for a talk on ‘Poets and Patrons in and around Medieval Tywyn’.

Dr Foster Evans’ account tapped into a rich vein of references to the Tywyn area within the earliest written records of Welsh medieval poetry and placed the works within their social context. He also covered subsequent scholarship on the subject.

An enjoyable feature was the opportunity to hear extracts of the poems read in their original language.

The speaker answered questions from members and visitors and was thanked for a comprehensive and absorbing talk.

After the refreshment break summer trips were discussed. Places for the trip to Penrhyn Castle on Wednesday, 7 August, in conjunction with Meirionnydd Horticulture Society, are still available.

There will also be a train trip to Harlech on 23 July hosted by Dr John Hirst of the Harlech Historical Society, and a car-share trip to Holywell on 18 July.

The Town Trails material was on display and plans for the opening ceremony on 13 July at 2.30pm at the Beachside cafe were outlined, from which time Town Trail leaflets will be available.

The meeting on 15 July at 7pm at the Baptist Church will be a follow-up session on the medieval period. Local contributions will be welcomed. There will also be a chance to meet Mari Beynon Owen, consultant for the UNESCO World Heritage Bid for Slate Heritage in Snowdonia, which includes Abergynolwyn, the Talyllyn Railway and Tywyn among seven key sites.

Part of her brief is to contact community groups such as the history society for their input.

Volunteer Hearing Aid Clinic

THE next session of the ‘Walk-in’ clinic will be held on Thursday, 4 July, at Tywyn Baptist Church.

If your hearing aid requires serving, new tubing, new domes or even new batteries, just come along between 10 am and noon.

No need to make an appointment.

If you’re a member of a club, society or group, send your news to [email protected]