Ayr College Student Wins Great Potato Challenge 2009

Ten catering students from across the country battled it out recently in a bid to take home one of the top three prizes in the grand final of the Potato Council’s ‘Great Potato Challenge’ competition 2009. The annual event, which aims to increase awareness of potatoes and the benefits they offer the foodservice sector saw a panel of expert judges sample a range of dishes that featured a wide variety of potatoes and cooking methods.

The student finalists all demonstrated great flair and a real understanding of the potato varieties they had chosen, making it a very close competition. But it was a tasty dish developed by a student in her second year on the HND Hospitality Management course at Ayr College in Scotland that really stood out from the rest.

The dish, ‘Red Rooster and Dunsyre Blue Potato Cake with Truffled Spinach, Petite Ratatouille and Red Rooster Pepper Dressing’, earned its creator Kallaya Smillie the esteemed title of ‘Great Potato Challenge Champion 2009.’