A Southfields Academy pupil has been named the Wandsworth Young Chef of the Year.

Rose Picicco scooped the £130 top prize with a crystal trophy after the cooking finale on March 21.

Her dish of cod cakes, alongside chicken parma ham and a Portuguese desert of natas de ceu, was enough to impress the judges.

Councillor Leslie McDonald, the Mayor of Wandsworth, said: “I hope taking part in this competition has inspired the borough’s young aspiring chefs.

“The dishes they created for the final were outstanding, and I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with for the charity dinner.”

Each of the eight finalists were presented with high street vouchers – May Newkey-Burden (Burntwood School) finished second while Yafiet Binyam (Ernest Bevin College) was third.

Other finalists were: Raheela Aslam (Ark Putney Academy), Farnaz Abubaka (Ark Putney Academy), Jamiee Hyacinth (Chestnut Grove Academy), Zakareya Ahmad (Ernest Bevin College), and Jada Burrell-Powell (St Cecilia’s Church of England School).

The Young Chef competition, now into its fifth year, is run both by the Mayor of Wandsworth and Wandsworth Council’s lifelong learning team with the borough’s state schools.

Now the finalists will participate in the Mayor of Wandsworth’s Young Chef of the Year 2018 Charity Dinner, raising money for three organisations – the Wandsworth Community Safety Trust, St John Ambulance Service, and the Rotary Club. They will work with former Master Chef finalist Daksha Mistry to prepare the dinner.