Teamed with the year of Food and Drink for Scotland, this signature programme saw the hospitality industry descend on Glasgow on Wednesday 4 March for a two day event, making it the ultimate destination for Scottish food, drink, tourism and hospitality.
Three talented Hospitality students from West College Scotland’s Greenock campus were put forward by their course lecturer to take part in Scotland’s largest hospitality, tourism and catering event.
Competing in the 'Culinary Arts' category the students showcased their skills mastered through personal tuition from Chef Lecturer David Smith to create impressive edible work. These creations were then displayed at the show for visitors to see before being judged to the highest possible global standards, as set out by the Federation of Chefs Scotland.
Hospitality Lecturer, David Smith commented, “Through my own personal experiences as a professional chef and lecturer I’ve found that the one thing that takes a trainee chef further is competition work. The dedication required to learn new dishes, the knowledge of the ingredients they are using and the focus required to compete at a higher level than what they are familiar with, all under the scrutiny of experienced judges builds character and dedication to the profession.
“For the girls to each win Bronze is a fantastic achievement. They have shown they have both the confidence and the skills to compete with experienced skilled chef’s from the hospitality industry.
We are extremely proud of each of them.
With only a couple of weeks to create and perfect their dishes before presenting them to some of the top chef’s in the industry, the competition had temperatures rising as they reached boiling point.
Speaking to the students about their experience and menus, twenty-nine year Bronze winner, Stacey Alexander from Port Glasgow said, “The first challenge was creating the menu. I spent a lot time searching the internet for ideas. I decided to go with food that I had never cooked before as I like to challenge myself and wanted to be able to learn about new foods and techniques.
“When we first arrived at the event and seen the competition I was a bit panicked especially as we have only been cooking for six months.
“I was delighted when I found out I had been awarded Bronze; it’s something that I’m very proud of. Taking part in the completion was a great experience. Working under pressure gave me a real insight into what it’s really like to work within this industry and I would definitely do it again.”
Caitlin Anderson from Greenock who also won Bronze, said, “Like Stacy I researched the internet and cook books for ideas. I changed my mind loads of times before finalising my menu and in the end went for foods that I like to eat.
“This particular category in the competition is not only about selected foods that work well together but also selected ones that look good together – presentation is everything.
“I was really pleased with the outcome of my dishes. I love lobster; the red colour of the lobster coupled with the green asparagus was really eye catching.
“I was really shocked to be awarded Bronze. The standard of competition was really high so I thought I had no chance.”
The final competitor, twenty-six year old Claire Ritchie from Linwood commented, “I like new challenges so I was excited to take part in the competition. There was quite a lot of preparation involved. David our lecturer coached us on what food worked well and complemented each other before deciding on our final menus.
“Standing in front of the judges on the day was nerve wracking as we had no clue what they were thinking. After they had made their decision we were lucky enough to get their feedback and suggestions on how we could improve for the future.
“I’m delighted to have come away with a bronze award especially as it’s the first competition that I’ve participated in; it definitely made all the hard work and preparation worthwhile.”
The students will be presented with their awards at the official awards ceremony on the 22 March at the Hilton, Glasgow.