NEWS IN DETAIL...
Student Grace's Diamond Dish on Sale Nationwide
Bramley Diamond Dishes national competition winner Grace Mathews, a cookery student at Cornwall College, finally saw the fruits of her labour this week, as she took delivery of her winning Bramley Apple Crumble Tart after her dish went into mass production to be sold in Sainsbury's stores.
Grace, who is 21 from Gulval near Penzance and currently studying the Professional Cookery Diploma (Kitchen and Larder) VRQ3 course at Cornwall College Camborne, created her Bramley Apple Crumble Tart using seasonal local produce to enter the Bramley Diamond Dishes Competition, organised by the Bramley Apple Information Service.
After scooping over 60 per cent of the vote in a Facebook voting campaign, Grace's recipe was crowned the winning dish and has now been mass produced by Sainsbury's to be sold exclusively in all of their UK stores from 16th May in time for the Jubilee celebrations next month.
Grace received a sample of the finished product from Sainsbury's this week and commented: "It's great to see the finished product and my name in print! Knowing that my creation is going to be on the shelves in stores throughout the UK is brilliant and makes me feel really proud that I won."
Dave Linnell, Principal of Cornwall College, said: "We are really proud of what Grace has achieved, as this competition not only highlights her talents but also our lecturers' ability to bring out the best in our students. I hope the dish completely sells out for the Jubilee celebrations, but not before I've had a chance to try it!"
The Bramley apple is a truly iconic British product originally raised in England and only commercially grown in Britain. The Queen even has an orchard on her Sandringham Estate.
Prue Leith, food critic and judge for the competition, said: "I spend my life telling people - children, amateurs, chefs, caterers, anyone who will listen - that good food and cooking are about pleasure. I also spend a lot of time banging on about fresh British ingredients, and judging the best menus by the best chefs in the country. So I was delighted to judge the Bramley Diamond Dishes competition which brings together The Queen's Diamond Jubilee and that most British of classic ingredients, the Bramley apple. I hope the winning Bramley Apple Crumble Tart inspires a fresh look at the potential of such an iconic British ingredient. There's a lot more to the Bramley than apple sauce."
Rachel Stares, Sainsbury's Dessert Product Developer, said: "At Sainsbury's, we celebrate British produce by working in partnership with British growers all year round, and we're proud to be the number one retailer for British grown apples. Being able to offer our customers a truly British dish that has been created by one of our customers, in honour of Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee, is our way of celebrating all that is great about Britain."
