Alaskan cook conquers Dublin

Epi Rogan, who is originally from Alaska and has been living in Ballincollig, Co Cork for the past 12 years, is the Dublin Cookery School scholar 2015. Rogan wins a place, worth €8,500, on the cookery school's next 12-week intensive course, beginning in September.

Rogan was one of 13 amateur cooks who took part in a cook-off at the school this week. Her winning dish was quick braised beef cheeks, which impressed judges Lynda Booth, proprietor of the school in Blackrock, Co Dublin; John Wyer, chef/proprietor at Forest Avenue, and Stephen Flynn of The Happy Pear in Greystones.

"I'm delighted to have won the scholarship. My ambition is to become a chef and go on to work in restaurants," Rogan said. During her three-month course at Dublin Cookery School she'll get a chance to experience what it's like to work in a professional kitchen when she does a stage (work experience) at Forest Avenue in Dublin 4.