IPSWICH: Young Ipswich chef Sam Woor is today celebrating sailing through the first round of a national cooking competition.

The 13-year-old of Salehurst Road, beat off his three competitors in his heat this week in the new series of BBC One’s popular show Junior Masterchef.

Wowing the judges, celebrity chef and restaurateur John Torode and actress Nadia Sawalham, who won Celebrity Masterchef in 2007, the St Albans High School pupil cooked up a storm.

After cooking a faultless copy of John Torode’s sponge pudding with a passion fruit syrup in the masterclass Sam went on to treat the judges to his very own two-course meal.

“It was brilliant, it felt really great to get through,” he said. “They couldn’t find any criticism, it was really exciting to get through.”

His chicken stuffed with feta and spinach and wrapped in pancetta served with a green bean parcel impressed before the 13-year-old finished off with a desert of lemon cheesecake with a strawberry sauce.

He added: “They really liked my food. I couldn’t believe it, they really couldn’t find anything to criticise.”

Sam will now appear in the quarter finals this evening on BBC One at 4.35pm.

He will battle through another masterclass taste test, where John Torode will create one of his dishes and challenge the contestants to pick out all the ingredients.

Then Sam will cook another two-course meal for the judges in one hour. Out of the four contestants taking part today two will go through to the semi-finals