Cooking is not just about taste and flavour in the professional world, learnt seven young chefs as they battled it out in the finals of the IIHM Young Chef India Schools 2015, in association with t2, at the University of West London on Friday.

The winner of the cooking competition for Class XI-XII students was Vedika Kariwala from Ahmedabad's Maharaja Agrasen Vidyalaya.

"She won because there were a lot of cooking skills and techniques on her plate. Apart from taste, cooking is also about the texture of the dish, the appearance, consistency, staying focused and calm under pressure and keeping the workstation clean," chorused the judges panel of five, including three of London's best-known Indian chefs.

There was Andy Varma, who owns the Chakra restaurant in Notting Hill, a few doors away from L.N. Mittal's home, Dipna Anand from her family-run Brilliant restaurant, and Romy Gill, of Romy's Kitchen in South Gloucestershire, alongside Liam Steevenson, Master of Wine, and professor David Foskett, head of the London School of Hospitality & Management, University of West London.

So what did Vedika, 17, do that stood out from the other six finalists from Delhi, Calcutta, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Jaipur? "I used my ingredients differently. I grilled the pattypan with Indian spices, which a judge said he had not seen before. Moreover, I rolled a puff pastry around an asparagus, which made it crunchy," said the Vikas Khanna fan.

"Some students cooked some simple things which were tasty but in a competition at this level, you have to be showing some skills. There were 20 points for creativity," said Shaun Kenworthy, mentor and culinary director of IIHM (International Institute of Hotel Management).

The night before the finals, at an Ealing hotel where the contestants were being put up, Vedika was discussing ideas with a fellow contestant and realised that both had planned similar dishes! "We were both using the same zucchini boats and also the same gravy. So we mutually decided to alter a few things. He changed his plating style by changing the shape of the zucchini and I changed my gravy," said Vedika. If the judges knew that, they would have probably given Vedika brownie points for another of a chef's biggest assets - improvisation.

In its fourth year, the format of the Young Chef competition was more challenging. Each finalist was given a list of 16 ingredients including sweet potatoes, green asparagus, French beans, butternut squash and arbi plus one mystery ingredient revealed on the last day, which was pattypan. Everyone also had to prepare panna cotta for dessert.

"The game has changed. Now, you're looking at pushing the boundaries for a more professional outcome. One was a box with some unfamiliar vegetables that pushes them to be creative. And the other was a set dessert that shows the judges that they can follow recipes and be exact in their interpretation," said Calcutta boy Andy Varma, who has been a judge for three consecutive years.

What does the Marwari girl, who calls herself a "Calcutta fan" because she loves the street food and milk cakes there, plan to do with the prize money of 5,000 pounds (Rs 5,00,000)? "I'm very impressed with the kitchens in London and I would like to use the money to buy good equipment for my own kitchen back home," said Vedika, who is famous at home and among relatives for her Cheese Potato Roesti.

The win could mean a bright future for the commerce student who is now convinced that she wants to be a chef. "There are huge job opportunities in the UK for people like them because there's a chef skill shortage here in London," said chef Dipna.

However, she also pointed out that a major hurdle to the crossover would be the immigration clampdown. "As soon as the government can ease that legislation, we can bring in chefs like them. Before I used to bring in all my chefs from India but now there are strict rules."

When the winner was announced before dinner on Friday, in the presence of chief guest and politician Bob Blackman and the founder of the Young Chef initiative, Suborno Bose of IIHM, Vedika stood up in disbelief, unable to contain her excitement.

"I don't know what to say. I'm so happy! I didn't expect to win because the competition was tough. I was competing with the six best in India," smiled the Ranveer Singh fan, as she reached for her headgear, a brown hat with a black ribbon, before posing for pictures.

Why the hat? "I love wearing hats. I have many hats at home. I guess I like to stand out," Vedika signed off.

She sure does.