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.

Weston College has welcomed students from a number of local secondary schools on an enrichment project to give them a taste of the hospitality industry.

Students from Priory, Worle, Broadoak, and Hans Price schools came to the College over the last four weeks to learn about cooking on a Catering Enrichment Project set up by the College’s school partnerships team.

The project came to a close with a large celebration, where the students cooked a full three-course meal for their family and teachers in Weston College’s Grove Training Restaurant. Over the duration of the project, they were guided and taught by Weston College staff who have helped them find out what it’s really like to work in the industry.

The students cooked a delicious meal consisting of soup to start, followed by chicken chasseur, and then chocolate brownie for dessert. They all worked together as a team to produce the meal, as they would in a real-life restaurant.

Sandra Bull, Area Manager of Hair, Beauty, Hospitality and Catering at Weston College, said: “We are always excited to welcome budding young chefs into the College! As our facilities are all commercial standard, it’s an excellent opportunity for them to get a real feel for what working in the industry is actually like.

“The hospitality and catering industry is growing so quickly that it’s important to show young people how enjoyable and fulfilling a career in the industry can be. We offer plenty of courses to help them on their way, too!”

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Exams are just around the corner and revision is getting into full flow. We want to help make the process as painless as possible for you, so we have looked into 5 revision apps which you can download right now to get you prepared for exam season...

Gojimo

Gojimo was created by the Telegraph and is the UK’s most popular revision app, giving you access to over 40,000 practice questions. This app covers a wide range of subjects, from exam boards such as AQA, CCEA, Edexcel, OCR and WJEC. The app features questions from 28 GCSE subjects, and 20 A Level subjects, giving you a great platform to prepare for your exams. 

The app is also a great tool to track your progress, and by taking the quizzes it can be a fun way of revising. It will give you instant feedback and also detailed explanations which can help you learn from your mistakes. 

Quizlet

Quizlet allows you to create study sets and according to research 95% of students who learn with Quizlet improved their results. Through Quizlet you can access revision cards which have already been made, or you can create your own to share with your friends. There are also games which offer a different way to test your skills and learn new information.

Revision App

The suitably named app has over one million revision notes, flashcards and quizzes. If you are a visual learner then you can also watch videos, allowing you to go back over any topics that you don’t feel quite so confident with. By offering such a variety of tools, this app will help ensure you feel suitably prepared for your exams. 

This app makes it easier for store all your revision tools in one place, as you can tailor the app to your courses and level.

SelfControl

If you are a procrastinator then this app will allow you to make more effective use of your time. SelfControl blocks websites in a set time period to stop the temptation of checking your newsfeeds and helps you to put your full focus on the task at hand.

Simple Mind

This app gives you the chance to create mind maps, it is easy to use and allows you to colour code, add images and keep all the vital information you need in one easily accessible place. An advantage of this app is that you can use it across platforms, so whether it be on your computer at home, or on your phone whilst out and about, this is a great revision tool.