A trio of budding young chefs have sautéed, spruced and pan-fried their way to a place in the regional heats of the annual catering competition, ‘A Passion to Inspire’, after impressing a judging panel of top local chefs.
Teams of catering and hospitality students took to the training kitchens at the College of West Anglia (CWA), on Monday 20 March, to put their culinary and front of house skills to the test.
A Passion to Inspire is designed to create strong links between cookery schools and local employers. This is the third year that the College of West Anglia has been involved with the competition.
The competition required the teams to create a main course and dessert, paired with an accompanying wine to compliment the meal. Front of house staff were also challenged to create a cocktail as a welcome drink.
This year’s winning team was Courtney Fleet (17) from Emneth, Josh Haycock (16) from Hunstanton and Becca Smith-Ames (21) from King’s Lynn. The young chefs served up a spinach and feta stuffed chicken dish with squash purée for mains, followed by a deconstructed lemon meringue pie.
Becca Smith-Ames said: “We are so glad to be going through to the next round. It gives us a chance to showcase what we can do and have to offer to some fantastic chefs.”
Their work was critiqued by some of the top chefs and restaurant managers in the area; Eric Snaith of Titchwell Manor, Richard Golding of Market Bistro, Mark Dobby from the Dabbling Duck and Avrum Frankel of Anglian Country Inns.
Lead judge Eric Snaith, head chef of Titchwell Manor Hotel and owner of Eric’s Fish & Chips, said: “We have had a really good day as usual at the College of West Anglia. The students have such a great attitude and overall, there was an impressive standard of food and service. These events are important as it’s good to meet the young chefs of the future and I wish the winning team the very best of luck in the next round.”
The winners of this heat will now go through to the final, at Colchester Institute, on Tuesday 20 June.
[gallery grids="News" image_size="large" ids="13413,13414,13415,13416,13417,13418,13420,13422,13423,13424,13425,13427"]
A trio of budding young chefs have sautéed, spruced and pan-fried their way to a place in the regional heats of the annual catering competition, ‘A Passion to Inspire’, after impressing a judging panel of top local chefs.
Teams of catering and hospitality students took to the training kitchens at the College of West Anglia (CWA), on Monday 20 March, to put their culinary and front of house skills to the test.
A Passion to Inspire is designed to create strong links between cookery schools and local employers. This is the third year that the College of West Anglia has been involved with the competition.
The competition required the teams to create a main course and dessert, paired with an accompanying wine to compliment the meal. Front of house staff were also challenged to create a cocktail as a welcome drink.
This year’s winning team was Courtney Fleet (17) from Emneth, Josh Haycock (16) from Hunstanton and Becca Smith-Ames (21) from King’s Lynn. The young chefs served up a spinach and feta stuffed chicken dish with squash purée for mains, followed by a deconstructed lemon meringue pie.
Becca Smith-Ames said: “We are so glad to be going through to the next round. It gives us a chance to showcase what we can do and have to offer to some fantastic chefs.”
Their work was critiqued by some of the top chefs and restaurant managers in the area; Eric Snaith of Titchwell Manor, Richard Golding of Market Bistro, Mark Dobby from the Dabbling Duck and Avrum Frankel of Anglian Country Inns.
Lead judge Eric Snaith, head chef of Titchwell Manor Hotel and owner of Eric’s Fish & Chips, said: “We have had a really good day as usual at the College of West Anglia. The students have such a great attitude and overall, there was an impressive standard of food and service. These events are important as it’s good to meet the young chefs of the future and I wish the winning team the very best of luck in the next round.”
The winners of this heat will now go through to the final, at Colchester Institute, on Tuesday 20 June.
[gallery grids="News" image_size="large" ids="13413,13414,13415,13416,13417,13418,13420,13422,13423,13424,13425,13427"]