READY STEADY COOK!

Last week, top chefs Ben Hewitt from the Marriot in Worsley and Malcolm Leahari from Manchester city centre's Brasserie on Portland, descended upon Salford City Academy to go head to head in a ‘Ready, Steady, Cook' style competition whilst teaching a group of year 11 BTEC Hospitality and Tourism pupils a thing or two about cooking.

After approaching the two chefs and coaxing them to demonstrate their skills to her class Julie Larkinson, Director of Work Related Learning and Food Technology teacher, set to work planning how the competition would work.

Julie said: "The purpose of the competition was not only a way for our pupils to gain experience from working with professional chefs but to get a short sharp taste for what a career in the catering industry is like."

Having been split into the programme's customary Red Tomatoes and Green Peppers, pupils set about planning, preparing and cooking two dishes; one main course and either a starter or a dessert.

Building on the knowledge the pupils have acquired on their BTEC course so far, the competition provided an opportunity to work with new ingredients and experience the kind of pressure top chefs encounter daily.

Both teams were given the same ‘essential' ingredients which were duck and / or lamb, sweet potato, mango, dried apricots and a pepper. And just like the programme chefs and pupils also had access to a store cupboard of additional ingredients such as eggs, flour and olive oil.

After an hour's cooking session the dishes were judged by editor of My Hospitality, Shaun Turner who was on the look out for a team who demonstrated excellent teamwork, cleanliness, imagination and most importantly; taste.

Shaun said: "When Julie asked me to judge the competition I was delighted to get involved. As editor of My Hospitality, I work very closely with chefs from all over the North West and it is very encouraging to hear that two have given up some of their time to pass on their expertise to the future chefs of Manchester."

In the end, the winning team was the Green Peppers who were lead by Malcolm Leahari from the Brasserie. His team designed a menu that comprised of, "Brasserie Style Lamb," seared lamb steak with sweet potato mash and a pepper and herb jus followed by "Mango Heaven," a mango style cheesecake accompanied by a winter fruit spiced combo.

"The standards were high and the Red Tomatoes put up a good fight, but ultimately I had to make a decision. The Green Peppers' menu showed great flair and tasted fantastic. Jamie and Gordon should watch out because Salford City Academy has a set of pupils who are set to be hot on their heels.

"I would like to add that I was very impressed with all of the pupils who all demonstrated a genuine passion for cooking," continued Shaun.

Julie Larkinson said: "I would like to thank both the chefs and Shaun for taking the time out of their busy schedules to come and work with our pupils. I was wholly impressed with the dishes produced and the experience has fuelled the hunger of our students to keep working hard and pursue a career in the hospitality and tourism industry."