HUNTINGDONSHIRE S first ever food and drink festival is aiming to tantalise taste buds across the district this September, and we want to give children a chance to get in on the act. The search is now on to find Huntingdonshire s best junior chef – a youn

HUNTINGDONSHIRE'S first ever food and drink festival is aiming to tantalise taste buds across the district this September, and we want to give children a chance to get in on the act.

The search is now on to find Huntingdonshire's best junior chef - a youngster who is a whiz in the kitchen and can rustle up a tasty, and importantly, healthy meal.

The competition, which is being run by Huntingdonshire District Council together with The Hunts Post and sponsored by Anglian Water, is open to school children, aged 11 to 14.

The rules are simple. We want our young chefs to create a two-course menu (courses should be a main and a dessert) using local ingredients and tell us all about it. The slightly trickier part is that the suggested menu will have to cost no more than £10, will need to feed two people, and will have to be nutritious.

The chefs will need to name their dishes, list all the ingredients and give some costings.

Each entry will be judged on its originality, use of local ingredients and, of course, price.

Six of the chefs will then make it through to the real test: the cooking.

And this is where they will need to impress the judges not only with their tasty dishes, but by also taking into consideration hygiene, nutrition, creativity and presentation.

The top junior chef will win the chance to have the menu prepared for him or her and family by a professional chef at one of the country's top restaurants, The Old Bridge in Huntingdon.

The competition is also part of the Huntingdonshire Food and Drink Awards, which are due to be launched later this summer and, along with the festival, will celebrate the best of the district's produce and producers.

Entries for the young chef competition should be on A4 paper and should be sent to Young Chef Competition, The Hunts Post, 30 High Street, Huntingdon PE29 3TB.

The deadline for entries is Friday, June 22. The cook-off will take place at Saxongate during the Huntingdonshire Food and Drink Festival which starts on September 8.

INFORMATION: To find out more about the festival visit www.huntsfoodfestival.co.uk. Further details about the Food and Drink Awards will be printed in The Hunts Post.