BUDDING young Jamie Olivers have been crowned MasterChef 2009’ after seeing off their rivals—from another school.A smorgasbord of healthy delights prepared by the children at Malmesbury Primary in London’s East End gave them a narrow victory over rival Chisenhale Primary in the final of the schools’ healthy cooking competition

By Danielle Myles

BUDDING young Jamie Olivers have been crowned MasterChef 2009’ after seeing off their rivals—from another school.

A smorgasbord of healthy delights prepared by the children at Malmesbury Primary in London’s East End gave them a narrow victory over rival Chisenhale Primary in the final of the schools’ healthy cooking competition.

Youngsters from the neighbouring schools in Bow took the chance to get creative in the kitchen, making gourmet salads, egg curries and Thai chicken stir-fries over the usual meat and three veg’ and bangers and mash.

The contest aimed to make nutritious food as popular with pupils as typical East End grub.

“There’s a big myth with kids that if it’s healthy it’s not going to taste that good,” explained Malmesbury’s MasterChef’ team coordinator Danny De Lillo. “This contest was all about trying to change that concept.”

It seems to have worked, based on the kids’ eagerness to don a chef’s hat and cook up a wholesome feast.

The competition was inspired by the popularity of reality cooking shows on TV, such as Ready, Steady Cook the BBC’s Masterchef from which the contest took its name.

The competition was part of the Healthy Living programme the two schools are running, which include fruit stalls at lunchtime and breaks.