Posted: 14/09/12
Golden gastronomy at college
Dishes with an Olympic twist were served up to professional chefs during a cookery challenge at West Nottinghamshire College last week.
Five teams of catering students put their cooking and presentation skills to the test on Friday (7 September) during a three-hour competition cook-off judged by local professionals from the catering industry.
More than 30 students on level 2 and 3 catering courses were challenged to produce a three-course meal for two people, based on an Olympic gold medal-winning country - with a budget of just £10 to spend.
Students selected their country at random the day before the competition and purchased the ingredients from local supermarkets in preparation for the challenge, held at the at the college’s Number 19 Brasserie.
Winning the challenge with their Italian-themed menu were Ian Heslop, Tommy Sharples, Chloe Carter, Stacey Thorpe and Jodie Wardle.
Their dishes comprised of a starter of eggs in a red shirt, followed by a main course of mushroom and bacon lasagne and tiramisu for dessert.
Ian Heslop, from Meden Vale, said: “We really enjoyed the competition. It was a great start back to the new term and it was good to mix with students from other classes. We felt quite lucky to select Italy as the country to base our menu on as there’s just so many great Italian dishes to choose from.”
The competition was judged by Joe Piliero from The School of Artisan Food, the college’s deputy principal for teaching and learning Patricia Harman and curriculum manager Jennie Jordan.
Jennie Jordan said: “The winning group’s technical skills really stood out from the other groups and we thought they produced a really original menu. We were very impressed by the range of flavours and the care and thought that had been put into the dishes and the tiramisu was particularly good.”
The winning team scooped gift voucher prizes and each team member won their very own catering Olympic gold medal.
Caption: (l-r) back row: Jennie Jordan, Chloe Carter, Tommy Sharples, Ian Heslop, Patricia Harman. (l-r) front row: Joe Piliero, Stacey Thorpe and Jodie Wardle.
