THE master behind the popular Reggae Reggae cooking sauce paid a passing visit to a school to encourage cooking.

Dragons’ Den success story Levi Roots received a warm welcome from pupils and staff at Canons High School, in Shaldon Road, Edgware, who spoke to them about his passion for food and music and gave an insight into his life and how determination can lead to success.

Levi shot to fame as the rags to riches story after his appearance on the hit TV show in 2007, on which Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh invested £50,000 into his fledgling jerk sauce business.

The Jamaican-born reggae musician turned businessman said: “I hope to get young people excited about cooking and music, but also to prove to them that it doesn’t matter where you come from or what your background is – if you work hard and stay determined you can be a success.”

The event, on Wednesday, June 26, was part of his UK-wide School of Life Tour, in support of the government’s plan to introduce compulsory cookery lessons for children aged seven to 14 years old.

Director of technology at the school, Diarmuid Molloy, who organised the visit, said: “It was a great event.

“Levi Roots was a huge inspiration to the children and lots of them have said to me that they want to become entrepreneurs like him. His story really made the visit inspiring and the students absolutely loved it.”