Gortahork Wins Youthreach Masterchef Final 2017

Congratulations to Gortahork Youthreach who won the annual Youthreach Masterchef Final 2017 on 24 October. The winning dishes made by Team Gortahork (Cameron Mc Quillan and Sean Mc Causland, pictured left and right) were Beef Wellington with red wine jus served with roasted potatoes and roasted veg followed by sticky toffee pudding and salted whiskey butterscotch sauce. The runners up were Team Letterkenny (Robert Fox and Lorcan Hughes) who made Italian style chicken with gnocchi followed by decadent chocolate mousse.

The other teams competing in the final were Team Ballyshannon (Oisín Devanney and Saoirse Fox) who made chicken and veg stir fry followed by sponge trifle, Team Glengad (Aimee Mullin and Rosemary Diver) who made fish cakes with hoisin sauce followed by Eton mess and Team Lifford (Katie Anderson and Rachael Friel) who made chicken roulade stuffed with sundried tomatoes, mozzarella and Parma ham on a bed of spaghetti pesto with a parmesan crisp followed by raspberry tiramisu with a kick.

This annual competition takes place in each of the six Youthreach centres across the county in September and October to pick a centre team and culminates in the county final in Letterkenny. Teams of two from each centre compete to create a main course and dessert on a budget of €20. The final was judged this year by Sean Duffy, Head of School at Letterkenny Institute of Technology’s Department of Tourism and Hospitality, Head Chef at Browne’s Restaurant Group Ian Orr and Donegal ETB Chief Executive Anne McHugh.

Speaking after the event, Donegal ETB Chief Executive Anne McHugh said, “The Youthreach Masterchef Final is one of the highlights of the Youthreach and Donegal ETB events calendar. I was delighted to be a judge this year but we had a tough job picking a winning team because of the very high quality of the dishes made by all the learners. Congratulations to the winning team and well done to all the participants.”

You can view more photos on the Youthreach Twitter account (@DonegalETB) and Facebook page (Donegal Youthreach). #YRMasterchef17

Youthreach is co-funded by the Irish Government, the European Social Fund and the Youth Employment Initiative as part of the ESF Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning (PEIL) 2014-2020.

Donegal Youthreach Masterchef 2017 Winners Team Gortahork, Cameron McQuillan and Sean McCausland.
Donegal Youthreach Masterchef 2017 Winners Team Gortahork’s main course of Beef Wellington.
Donegal Youthreach Masterchef 2017 Winners Team Gortahork’s dessert of sticky toffee pudding.