If you're someone with a love for food well then you have probably heard the murmurings on the aul interweb of late. Like a game of chinese whispers a myth has been circling, I couldn't quite make it out until one day a little tweet landed on my screen. Cully and Sully, the lovely people behind the nutritious ready meal line, are running a competition Chef Factor with a prize of a 12 week certificate course at Ballymaloe Cookery School, worth a staggering €12,000. Ah now hang on a sec lads. Obviously someone along the way wasn't listening and has made a right dogs dinner of the message to be passed along. What? They are giving away a 12 week certificate course at Ballymaloe Cookery School! Now come on, I didn't come down the Liffey on a punnet of strawberries you know, yiz will have to get up a bit earlier in the day to catch me out.
*Picks up phone and dials Cully & Sully headquarters*
Me: "Hello, is that Cully and Sully HQ"
C&S HQ: "It is"
Me: "Like Mam Used to Bake here. Are yiz aware of the ludicrous notion circulating the interweb that yiz are giving away a 12 week certificate course in Ballymaloe Cookery School?"
C&S HQ: "We are indeed and there is nothing ludicrous about it, it's true!"
Me: "Wah?! What do we have to do?"
C&S H&Q: "Simply take a picture of yourself, with a dish you have cooked, including the words Cully & Sully and head over to http://www.cheffactor.ie/ to enter."
So if you want to be in with a chance to win a 12 week certificate course at the highly esteemed Ballymaloe Cookery School, get cooking and get snapping. Also include a brief explanation about the dish you have chosen and the reason why you should win. Cully and Sully would like to stress that you do not have to be able to cook to a professional standard to enter Chef Factor, if that was the case you would have nothing to learn from the course. So even the most amateur of chefs can enter.
Do you love to cook but feel that you would like to improve your skills? Do you dream of a career as a chef or in the food industry? Or would you love to whip up a meal for family and friends but don't have the skills to do more than boil an egg? If you answered yes to any of these questions then Chef Factor is the competition for you. To show you that you do not need to produce a photo of a michelin star meal I took a little pic of my lunch today, a simple quesidilla but a worthy entry none the less.
Now my mush wasn't quite ready to greet the public at
lunchtime so I'm not in the picture
but do remember to include yourself in the photo you intend to
enter & for heavens sake don't forget the words Cully & Sully!
I have posted the official press release below which includes full details about the competition and the prize so please read in full:
"Award Winning Irish Good food producers Cully & Sully are delighted with the early response to their all Island Competition, Chef factor. Members of the public are invited to enter the contest on Cheffactor.ie to be in with a chance of winning a place on January’s coveted Ballymaloe cookery course with accommodation, together worth over €12,000 euro. The top prize can be redeemed in either 2011 or 2012 and will include two weeks with Colum O’ Sullivan (Sully) and Cullen Allen (Cully) to learn the ways of the food business. Colum O’ Sullivan insists “Chef factor is open to everyone; whether you’re a whizz in the kitchen or not. The prize is to teach you how to cook on a world-renowned cookery course, after all. You can enter anything you like-from your favorite sandwich to a risotto, from steak to a cake! We are simply looking for someone who really wants to win this once in a lifetime opportunity”
To enter Chef factor, participants must upload a simple photo of their dish with the words “Cully & Sully” somewhere in the image and submit this to cheffactor.ie along with a brief explanation of the dish and the reason why they deserve to win. The photos of early competition entries are viewable now on cheffactor.ie. Cullen Allen says, “ The early entrants are absolutely super. We will choose one person to go through to final so the moment someone enters, we rush to see his or her entry! It will be up to the public to decide who the other two finalists are when voting opens on the 25th of October.” The final trio will then be expected to present their entry at the live final in Ballymaloe Cookery School.
The contest is set to cause quite a stir on the Irish food scene, as the Ballymaloe 12 week cookery course is a proven pathway to a successful culinary career. The winner of Cully & Sully’s Cheffactor could follow in the footsteps of Rachel Allen and many other great chefs who trained at the school in Shanagarry, Co. Cork.
Colum O’ Sullivan says the ethos behind Cheffactor is to offer would-be cooks the chance to pursue their culinary dreams and emphasizes that this competition is for everybody. “We are not looking for Michelin star chefs,” Cullen Allen adds “We believe that good food is for everybody and so this competition is for everyone. “
The duo have a family pedigree in quality food. Allen is a grandson of Myrtle Allen, founder of the famous cookery school and Ballymaloe House, where he trained. Colum O’ Sullivan graduated with a BSC in food business from UCC in 1999 and grew up in Midleton in Cork where his mother owns the Granary food store. Colum O’ Sullivan established the company with co-founder Cullen Allen six years ago. All of their products are produced in Ireland. The duo recently beat off competition from 240 global food producers to win the Sial d’Or award-the first Irish Producers to do so. Cully and Sully have also won numerous great taste awards.
For all the details on how to enter Cully & Sully’s Cheffactor and more, visit http://www.cheffactor.ie/"
