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19 October 2009
The grand opening of state-of-the-art culinary facilities at Worcester College of Technology marked the latest in the national School FEAST provision of training for the school food workforce.
20 Oct 2009
School cooks impress top food judges, including celebrity chef Prue Leith, in
Master chef-style competition
The grand opening of state-of-the-art culinary facilities at Worcester College of Technology marked the latest in the national School FEAST provision of training for the school food workforce.
Worcester is one of 29 specialist centres and partnerships comprising School FEAST, (Food Skills and Excellence Training) and is the second specialist training centre for school cooks in the West Midlands. The College’s grand opening included a Masterchef-style competition, judged by BBC TV’s Great British Menu judge and the School Food Trust’s chair, Prue Leith.
The launch event saw three teams of school cooks mentored by two, top local chefs. Daren Bale of The Elms at Abberley and Felice Tocchini of Fusion Brasserie in Stoulton who helped the cooks to devise, prepare and present a nutritious, two-course meal, which met the budget, set for a school lunch in the area, of around £1.80 to £2.10.
As in the TV program Masterchef, the teams battled to win judges’ votes, in this case, Prue Leith, Neil Tabram (Programme Manager for Hospitality at WCT), Emma Melhuish (School Food Trust) and Jane Mellersh (Hospitality Consultant, City & Guilds). The winning dishes were awarded trophies from the college.
The school cooks involved in the event came from the surrounding areas of Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Shropshire. The cooks have been active in work-based training to improve their skills and many are already working towards NVQs in professional cookery.
The new centre will provide training and continuous education for cooks, kitchen assistants, lunch-time supervisors, pupils and their parents.
Prue Leith said: "School cooks are the heartbeat of our school food revolution - transforming lunches and children's health. They deserve the best training. This extension of the School FEAST Network will play a key role in nurturing the school cooks of the future – enhancing the skills of kitchen staff for hundreds of schools in Worcester and the surrounding areas, and ensuring more children eat a healthy lunch every day.”
The purpose built kitchens will help provide a readily accessible supply of high quality training and ensure the school food workforce is motivated and encouraged to take up the training needed. This is especially critical since the introduction in September for all schools to follow new government guidelines for food and nutritional standards.
