The University College Oxford catering team caters for Fellows of the College, students, guests, visitors and conference delegates. They cater for all diets and wanted to improve their range of plant-based dishes.
Darren Lomas, executive chef at University College Oxford, said: “We had a very constructive two days at the university with two passionate trainers. I had worked with Sam to come up with some dates out of term which would enable us to effectively close a very busy kitchen to facilitate the training. Having the opportunity to bring all the chefs together for the two days without the distraction of the usual days demands enabled plenty of headspace to get creative and fully engage in the training.
“There are definitely dishes the chefs learnt which will be introduced into the menus immediately. The good thing about the training is that it encouraged the chefs to try and taste new techniques and ingredients which will then naturally make their way into future dishes.”
Tutors Maz and Nikita shared with the catering team a range of skills including creating oyster mushroom scallops and tackling tricky tofu to make bánh mí.
Sam Linford-Platt, head of the Vegetarian Society Cookery School, added: “We were really excited to work with Darren’s team at University College. Their desire to add more plant-based dishes as part of their sustainability plan is to be commended.
“To introduce chefs to new skills, flavours, textures, and ingredients that will enhance their menus is what we at the Vegetarian Society Cookery School look forward to; it’s about working together. We are also very aware of the practicalities of working kitchens and their teams, so were happy to create a bespoke programme to really inspire them.”
The Vegetarian Society Cookery School works with restaurants, hospitals and schools across the UK to enhance their vegetarian and vegan menus. To find out more visit: https://vegsoc.org/what-we-do/catering-training/.