BUDDING chefs from Borders College have been battling it out over the cooker this week.

Now in its 10th year, the Borders College Hospitality Students In-house Competition gives students the opportunity to showcase the skills they have culminated during studying.

Previous winners have gone into become successful chefs, including Greg Anderson who is now Head Chef at Morston Hall in Norfolk.

After two days of intensive cooking on Tuesday and Wednesday Monica Ngungu was named winner from NVQ2 section.

And the winner from the NVQ3 class was Steven Grant.

Peebles Hydro’s Head Chef, Chris Hazelton lent his expertise by judging the in-house cookery competition.

Having assessed City and Guilds end of year assessments previously, Chris has plenty experience of spotting outstanding chefs of the future.

He said: "Competitions like this are a great opportunity for students to really demonstrate their creativity and culinary flair.

"I was extremely impressed by the standard of dishes produced and enjoyed tasting them all.

"I hope that my visit has offered the students some insight into what it is like to work in a fast-paced, exciting hotel kitchen like the one I run at Peebles Hydro and inspired them to follow a career it the hospitality industry.

"Both Monica and Steven had great ideas and flavour combinations which they executed beautifully. I am sure they both have fantastic careers as chefs ahead of them.”

Students produced a two-course meal for the competition where they were allocated a specific budget and expected to source their own ingredients. Chris, along with the Hospitality course tutors, judged the students’ dishes as well as taking into consideration their food production knowledge and skills.

The competition also enables them to bolster their CVs, further helping the students improve their career prospects upon leaving college.

Lynne Gilchrist, Head of Faculty at Borders College, added: "We are absolutely delighted that Chris Hazelton has taken time out of his busy schedule to judge our annual completion.

"The experience of participating in the competition as well as receiving valuable advice, feedback and support from Chris will increase both the students’ confidence and employability skills. Peebles Hydro has undertaken many work experience placements with our students over the years and we would like to thank Chris and the wider Peebles Hydro team for their continued support in nurturing the next generation of the Hospitality industry.”