Wanted: Trio of Young Chefs for Prestigious Student Catering Competition
The Country Range Student Chef Challenge, which is run in collaboration with the Craft Guild of Chefs, is scouring Kent for the next trio of talented young chefs with the deadline for entries closing in 4 weeks.
The challenge has become the pinnacle for full-time hospitality and catering college students looking to showcase their culinary prowess and creativity, while developing “real life” catering skills and experience under intense pressure situations.
In addition to the acclaim of winning the prestigious award, the victorious team will be given the unique opportunity and honour to work with the Guild’s culinary team in catering for over a thousand guests at the Craft Guild of Chefs Annual Awards 2017.
The 2015/16 thrilling challenge was won by the team from Loughborough College – Daniella Bromley, Emily Bucknall and Rebecca Brooks – who as part of their prize, have just competed at the Culinary Olympics in Germany.
Darren Creed, lecturer and mentor of the girls, who also recently competed at the Culinary Olympics and won a Bronze medal, commented on the benefits of the challenge to students and colleges:
“It’s an incredible competition which provides so many benefits so I can’t recommend it enough for both students and colleges. The competition gave the girls a real insight into what they can do and helped provide them with the confidence and belief to keep developing and strive for the top. Winning the highly sought after award and the prize of going to the Culinary Olympics is fantastic for their CVs and we also received an incredible amount of press coverage for the college, both locally and nationally.”
The 2016/17 Challenge – Healthy Gourmet Fine Dining
In an extremely on-trend theme for the 2016/17 challenge, each team of three students will be tasked with creating, preparing and cooking a three-course, three-cover menu around the theme ‘Healthy Gourmet Fine Dining’. The menu must include:
- A vegetarian starter containing at least one super grain, such as amaranth, chia seeds, freekeh or quinoa
- A main course that can contain meat or fish but must be centred around imaginative healthy cooking techniques
- A dessert that should contain fruit where possible and refrain from containing too much butter and cream.
Applications, Timings and Deadlines
Registration for the competition opened on the 1st September and closes on the 28th November. Chef lecturers from across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales are invited to register their interest now on www.countryrangestudentchef.co.uk to receive an entry pack.
Chef lecturers will be required to enter their team(s) by submitting a completed entry form, which includes details of their three-course, three-cover menu, the ingredients and methodology used for each course and the associated costs of each element, which must total a maximum of £8 per cover.
The menus will then be judged with the winning teams selected to compete in regional heats at the end of January 2017 before the successful teams make it through to the live final which will take place on the 15th March in the Live Theatre of ScotHot – Scotland’s biggest food, drink and hospitality show. ScotHot runs from the 15-16th March at the SECC Glasgow and is also home to the 31st Scottish Culinary Championships.
