Young chef Eron Woods is sharing his love of cooking with the next generation.

For the past two years Mr Woods, 22, has led the Bermuda Hospitality Institute’s Jr Chef Camp, introducing young people to the kitchen and helping them develop their skills.

He said: “This is one of my babies, I do it for the kids. I really love working with young people and giving back to my community as best I can. That’s always been a big thing for me.

“I like doing things that have longevity, doing things with the future in mind that will benefit the community. Just seeing the kids grow in their confidence is definitely what makes it worth it for me.”

Mr Woods said he developed a love of cooking at a young age and, after studying culinary arts at Bermuda College, moved on to Johnson and Wales University where he this year earned a bachelor’s degree.

He said: “I thoroughly enjoy the food industry and everything that it’s about. I love cooking, I love eating. Food makes people happy, so why not be involved in it? And people have got to eat, so you will never be out of business.”

He was introduced to Jr Chef Central, an initiative launched in 2004 in Sacramento, California, through his training. The BHI last year agreed to license the programme for a camp locally for students between 10 and 15 years of age, held at Bermuda College.

Mr Woods said: “Last year was the first time.

“It was a great, great camp. We had positive feedback, we had to turn down people right up until the last day of camp because people were calling us asking if there were any spaces. Last year, we ran three weeks of basics, while this year we had that plus one advance camp. The kids cook everything, they cooked their lunch every day.”

The students also tackled a series of international dishes, starting with local and Caribbean fare before moving on to Italian, Chinese and Tex-Mex cuisine.

In addition, the camp visited Wadson’s Farm and Greenland Dairy and learnt how to make the most out of their ingredients.

Mr Woods said: “We really pushed reduce, reuse and recycle. We were showing them the proper way to cut up vegetables to get the most yield out of it, and what they can do with those scraps.

“You can make a stock for a soup or a sauce. As a chef, that’s what you really do. You try to use the product as much as possible to get the most out of it.”

He added the reaction from both the students and the parents was fantastic.

Mr Woods said: “They loved it. Parents were sending e-mails every other day saying their kids can’t stop making this or that.

“The kids loved being in the kitchen and you could really see the growth from Monday to Friday in how comfortable they were using a grill, using an oven.

“Then they could take those skills back home, which can ease up the burden on the parents.

“That’s the main part of this camp, to build the confidence of our young people.

“We had people come in with zero experience, who hadn’t even looked at a chef’s knife before or know how to hold it.

“It’s really good to see them progress and become more confident in themselves.”