A CILGERRAN teenager has been cooking up a storm in a national skills competition.

Seventeen year-old Sam Everton, who is studying professional cookery at Pembrokeshire College, recently won gold in the final of Skills Competition Wales.

Competing against finalists from across the country, Sam completed a series of cookery challenges within a three hour time limit, including the preparation and cooking of a starter, main course and dessert for two people.

As this is Sam’s first ever competition he was thrilled to have won.

Sam said: “It was really nerve wracking, we were given a month to come up with our menus and practise as much as we could. To start I made seabass with vegetable chowder and deep fried cockles, followed by sous-vide chicken breast stuffed with mushroom and truffles and a chicken liver faggot on a potato rostie. For dessert I went with an apple bavoir.

“We were marked in two sections on preparation which involved filleting, butchering and vegetable preparation and then then on our cooking and presentation. I chose these dishes to really show off my skills I’ve learned in college and at the Grosvenor Hotel, in Cardigan where I work part-time.

“I want to complete my level three and go to university to study food science. The experience was amazing and I really pushed myself to create high quality food in the time they gave us. I’m looking forward to hopefully getting through to the next stage and practising hard to show the judges what I can do.”

Sam may go now forward to represent Pembrokeshire College in the Professional Cookery WorldSkills UK heat, with the aim of potentially representing Team Wales at this year's Skills Show in Birmingham in November. He may then be eligible to compete for a place in the squad which will represent the UK at WorldSkills in Abu Dhabi in 2017.