Westminster Kingsway College students triumph at British Culinary Federation competition

The British Culinary Federation (BCF) 'Student Challenge Cook & Serve Team of the Year', sponsored by Brakes – a leading provider of food for the catering industry – is designed to identify the future stars of the industry. The competition, held at Stratford upon Avon College on 24th April 2012, saw students from nine colleges from around the UK demonstrate their cooking, presentation and service skills in front of two expert panel of judges, covering the kitchen and front of house areas. Each college team, comprising two chefs and one waiter, were required to create a menu including cod for their starter, pork fillet for mai, and a non-chocolate dessert. They had to prepare the high quality three-course meal using ingredients supplied by Brakes, and present the dishes to two diners. The kitchen judges included: Eric Bruce, chef patron, Restaurant Severn, Ironbridge; Matt Owens, executive pastry chef, Zuidam UK; Mat Cheal, chef Simpsons Restaurant; Paul Gould, OBE, retired executive chef of the NEC Birmingham; Chris Hudson, chef consultant; and the chairman of judges, formerly the BCF WACS competition organiser, Lee Corke from Clare College, Cambridge. Front of house judges were: Bernard France, Classic Fine Foods Ltd and Tony Selimaj: Simpsons Restaurant, Birmingham. Jim Eaves, British Culinary Federation chairman, was on hand to present the awards. James Armitage, marketing director at Brakes, said: "This is one of the UK's most challenging competitions as it sees catering and front of house students working together as a team, performing in a real-time, pressurised environment. This provides valuable insight and training into the exacting standards of cooking and service, which are required by our top restaurants." Eaves added: "Interest in this competition from catering colleges is always very high, and the standards are forever being raised."