Catering students shine in competition

Two catering students at South Essex College served up delightful dishes to secure their place in the final of a competition.

Thurrock student Amy Allen, and Southend student Peace Namirembe, impressed the judges with their dishes of roast guinea fowl with white wine cream reduction & roasted vegetables, and stuffed leg of lamb with chickpea stew & red wine sauce.

The competition is being held in partnership with consumer goods producer Unilever, which makes some of the best known brands in the world including Hellmann’s, Ben & Jerry’s, Marmite, Colman’s, and Knorr.

In the first round of the competition students had to create a two course menu which focussed on UK produce. Unilever representatives selected their favourite six dishes with those students progressing to the second round which was held recently.

The six semi-finalists travelled to the Unilever development kitchen in Leatherhead to be judged by a panel of experts, including a Unilever development chef.

After another impressive day of putting their skills to the test, Amy and Peace were selected to compete against each other in the final.

Student Manager Toby Walsh said it was a fantastic opportunity for students.

He said: “All of our students showed high levels of talent and professionalism in the competition. For them to have the experience of working in a real life development kitchen was a fantastic opportunity for students to get an insight of what it’s like working in the industry. The final of the competition is going to be an impressive event.”

For their final challenge the students will have to pull out all the stops as they prepare and serve a three course meal for 20 people at the College’s Thurrock Waves restaurant in May.

To find out about catering courses available at the college visit www.southessex.ac.uk