Feast for the Senses: Students Compete in Chef of the Year Competition Sponsored by the North Swindon and Thamesdown Rotary Club

Last week a group of Level 2 and 3 Professional Cookery students at New College Swindon took part in a competition sponsored by the North Swindon and Thamesdown Rotary Club. They prepared, cooked and presented 3-course meals of their choosing to a panel of four judges including Development Chef for Arthur David Food, Stephen Shore as well as president of North Swindon and Thamesdown Rotary club, Ann Debureaux-Dias and members Chris Ockwell and Kathy Hobson. Judges had their work cut out tasting and scoring over 40 different dishes!

Students were tasked with creating a vegetarian starter, a chicken main course and a sweet pastry tart for dessert. Students Created a variety of dishes, including a crispy saffron risotto arancini, chicken stuffed with spinach with asparagus, romesco, fondant carrot and chicken jus and a deconstructed lemon meringue pie.

We caught up with Hospitality Lecturer Sian Vockins after the event who said, “The competition was a great success. All of the students were really keen and excited to take part and showcase their skills.” She continues “They all worked really hard developing their dishes to meet the competition brief and the standard of food was incredible.”

Congratulations to everyone who took part! The level of skill and precision all of the students possess made it very difficult to judge this year’s competition and crown a winner. Congratulations to Ganesh and Liam who created the winning menu.

The Rotary Club of Swindon North and Thamesdown member, Kathy Hobson said, “The Rotary Club of Swindon North and Thamesdown look forward to the Student Chef competition every year. The judges are always impressed with the high standard of the food presented. It’s good to know that the food industry in Swindon has a great future.”

Thought about a future in catering or becoming a chef? Your future starts here at New College Swindon!

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