Catering students at Weston College got the opportunity to cook with locally-produced cooking technology last week as part of the Chefs’ Forum Academy.

The students got the chance to use Clifton Food Range’s renowned water bath cooking products (as seen on Masterchef and the Great British Menu), which are made in Weston-super-Mare.

Christopher Wicks, Head Chef at Old Down Manor, was on hand to kick-off the water bath cookery unit of the students’ course, demonstrating how this method of cooking can seal in flavour and gives chefs control over the texture of the food.

This type of cookery is called sous vide and involves vacuum sealing the ingredients before cooking at a low temperature in the special water-based cooking machines. It is a technique which is rapidly gaining popularity in many top restaurants.

Catherine Farinha, Founder of the Chefs’ Forum, said: “Having an industry expert like Chris Wicks teach Weston College’s catering students will inspire the young chefs and show them the versatility of sous vide cookery. 

“They will learn about portion control, quality consistency and all the other advantages of low temperature cookery that make it Wicks’ cooking method of choice.”

The Chefs’ Forum Academy was launched at Weston College in September 2016, and brings together local chefs, food producers and innovative product designers. It enables industry professionals to pass on their knowledge of the catering industry to trainee chefs in a collaboration which aims to promote Weston College as a centre of excellence for catering and hospitality in the South West of England.

On Wednesday 21st February, Weston College Foundation Learning Football Academy took part in the Somerset FA’s first Inclusive Futsal tournament with the aim to encourage more players and teams to take part in this exciting format of five-a-side football.

The F.A. is keen to harness the benefits of this game and introduce it to further the technical development of young players.

Futsal is a format of five-a-side football that is played indoors with a smaller, heavier ball. The game is played to pitch lines and hockey sized goals, which helps to encourage improved decision-making and technical skill for young players.

These attributes were displayed by the two Weston College Foundation Learning Football Academy teams in abundance, as they were both unbeaten and conceded only one goal each in their qualifiers.

As a result, they found themselves competing against each other in the final.

At the final whistle it was a 0 – 0 draw so it therefore went to a penalty shoot-out.

Weston College Team 1 was the eventual victors winning the shootout 7 – 6.

Nick Chadwick, Weston College's Assistant Coordinator for 14-16 Link, said: "These exceptional results are a real testament to the team’s commitment, dedication and teamwork they put into their training every Friday. A fantastic result all round."

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