UEA students amongst best cooks in the country

Defying the student stereotypes of instant noodles and cuppa soups, UEA has been named the second best student population for actually cooking their own food. And good food too.

Placing only behind Sheffield in the 2015 Student Cook of the Year competition, UEA are officially some of the most creative, and healthiest, in the kitchen. Well, when they’re not sprinting down Prince of Wales to the nearest kebab shop.

The statistics were revealed in partnership with LoSalt’s 2016 Student Cook of the Year competition, which encourages students to take photos of their healthy, low-sodium creations and upload them to social media.

To qualify, entrants must be studying in the UK and have no additional professional cooking experience. Contestants, in the vein of LoSalt’s aims, are judged on how healthy their dishes look and how healthy its name is. Health is wealth after all.

Photos: superfoodsiobhan (Instagram)

UEA’s Communication Officer Clare Penny told the Eastern Daily Press: “We’re glad that our students here at the University of East Anglia are so enthusiastic about cooking and keen to share their ideas on social media.

“Eating well not only sets them up to study but also, as demonstrated here, is a great way to connect with other people.”

UEA second year Siobhan Mary O’Brien, who goes by the Instagram handle of ‘superfoodsiobhan’ has over 130,000 followers on the platform and is know for her healthy, vegan and creative meals on a student’s shoestring budget.

When she found out that UEA placed the second best university for their cooking abilities, she said to the Tab: “It makes sense that UEA is highly ranked on the list as Norfolk is quite well knows for fresh produce and it’s easy buying healthy food [at UEA] due to the VegBox Society. Plus the SU shop has a good stock of speciality health foods in there – there’s almost a whole aisle of gluten free, dairy free and vegan alternatives and wholefoods like dried beans and rice and lentils.

“Plus, since first years live on campus and campus is away from town, it’s super easy to cook as you can go back to your flat and make food at lunchtime rather than buying food from chains like McDonald’s or Subway which you’d be more likely to do if you went to a university in a city centre.

When asked about further promoting healthy and mindful eating at university, Siobhan said: “Uni needs to make more healthy options available at Campus Kitchen and Unio – things like smoothies and fruit salads. Convenient healthy food is the best way to get people to eat it. If healthy food was as easy to get hold of on campus as a sandwich then people would be more likely to eat it.”

Entries for LoSalt’s Student Cook of the Year competition close on boxing day, so get cooking and hashtag your creations with #LoSaltStudentCook or #LoSaltSCOTY. Read all about it here.