2011Culinary Schools Information

• 1 . Sodexo team goes beyond expectation for Minster School

• Sodexo, a leading provider of on-site service solutions, recently catered for The Choir Schools’ Association’s annual conference, which was hosted by one of the UK’s flagship choir schools, The Minster School, at St Williams College in York.
  The team proved their talent and commitment towards meeting and exceeding client expectations after organising the two-day head masters annual conference event.
  On a day-to-day basis, the Sodexo Education team provide cleaning and catering services to include nutritionally balanced, healthy and exciting meal options for children and staff, with the likes of Shepherds Pie, sweet and sour chicken and roasted vegetable quiche making regular appearances. When the opportunity arose for the team to challenge themselves and provide catering for the Choir Schools’ Association’s annual conference, they started working on menu planning and event management straight away. Sodexo’s account manager, Linda Sidebotham called in her district team to help support the event.
  The two-day event consisted of all-day refreshments including freshly made cakes, lunches, fresh fruit platters and a grand black tie dinner, which kicked off with an outstanding wine and canapé reception.
  As a result, the Sodexo Education team, which sponsored part of the event, has secured a second Choir Schools’ Association conference event that will take place within the next two years.

• 2 . Real fruit FRENZY! is cool for schools

• Secondary schools throughout the country are signing up to stock Real Fruit FRENZY! lollies in order to provide their students with a 100% real fruit, additive-free juicy treat. The lollies make a refreshing change to traditional stodgy school puddings and sugar-laden sweets, and help the pupils towards their 5-a-day, which are vital for the demands of growing adolescents.
  The company behind the product, Yummy Lollies Ltd, created Real Fruit FRENZY! with teenagers in mind. Co-director Sarah Smith said: “As any parent of a teenager knows, it can be difficult to encourage them to make healthy choices when it comes to food, but Real Fruit FRENZY! ice lollies are a fun way for them to include vitamins in their diet while the packaging is bright, vibrant and eye-catching.”
  Yummy Lollies are supporters of Small Steps 4 Life, the government’s initiative to encourage 5-16 year olds to get active and eat well. “The number of children who are clinically obese is very worrying” says Co-director, Zoe Meredith. “Parents have limited control over their teenagers’ diets during the school day so it therefore has to be the schools’ responsibility to ensure that their students are given a choice when it comes to food. There is no excuse nowadays for only offering unhealthy desserts.”
  Real Fruit FRENZY! lollies come in three deliciously zingy flavours: Orange, Apple & Raspberry and Blackcurrant.
  Visit Yummy Lollies on stand K32 at the LACA Exhibition, Hilton Birmingham Metropole from 6th – 8th July 2011 and for more information on stocking Real Fruit FRENZY! contact 01273 446440 or visit www.realfruitfrenzy.com.
• 

• 3 . Student chefs turn up the heat in national finals

• A team of catering students from University College, Birmingham has won a prestigious catering competition designed to identify the country’s most promising young chefs and front-of-house students.
  The final of the British Culinary Federation (BCF) ‘Student Challenge Cook & Serve Team of the Year’, sponsored by Brakes Group, was held on 17 May at Stratford-upon-Avon College. It saw teams from nine further education colleges demonstrate their cooking, presentation and service skills in front of an expert panel of judges, including Michelin-starred chef and chairman of the BCF, Peter Griffiths.
  Each college team, comprising two chefs and one waiter, were required to create a menu using sea bass, Gressingham Duck for main, and a non-chocolate based desert. They had to prepare the high-quality three course meal using ingredients supplied by Brakes, and present the dishes to diners. Every element was scrutinised by BCF judges both within the kitchen and front of house.
  The competing colleges, selected from across the UK, were Bournemouth and Poole College, North East Worcestershire College, Stratford-upon-Avon College, Llandrillo College, University College Birmingham, Liverpool Community College, New College Nottingham, Stratford-upon-Avon College – Rugby Centre and Henley College Coventry.
  The winning team will get to enjoy a culinary experience in a Michelin starred restaurant. They also received a team trophy, plus a 3-Piece Global Kitchen Knife set each, a framed certificate and a voucher for Brakes Catering Equipment.
  Nicolas Welsh, chef from the winning team said: “We are extremely proud to have won such a demanding competition. Performing in front of top professionals was very nerve-wracking at times, but we seemed to cope well with the pressure and produced three great courses. Winning this has really spurred us on to make a success of our future careers. It’s been an inspiring experience.”
• 

• 4 . Scottish Hospitality Students Receive Hardship and Scholarship Fund

• The Hospitality Industry Trust (HIT) Scotland has announced a £100,000 bursary fund to help hospitality and catering students at Scottish colleges and universities.
  A total of 28 hospitality and catering course providers have access to a new bursary scholarships scheme to reward promising students plus an annual hardship fund, which has helped nearly 10,000 students over the past 16 years.
  The bursary scholarships have been introduced to broaden the horizons of Scottish students.

• 5 . Food safety qualifications launched to avoid kitchen blunders

• National qualification provider NCFE has launched two new food safety qualifications to help develop and ensure best practice in the catering industry.
  NCFE’S newly launched Level 2 Award in the Principles of Practical Food Safety for Catering and its Level 3 Award in the Principles of Practical Food Safety Supervision for Catering, are designed to ensure best practice and optimum health and safety procedures when handling and serving food.
  Learners can benefit from developing the skills and knowledge needed to enter the hospitality and catering sector and are also ideal for those already employed in the industry who wish to gain a nationally recognised qualification.
  Courses explore the methods of storage, preparation, cooking, handling and serving food safely, in line with good practice and food safety legislation. Units also cover the importance of risk assessment and pest control within catering environments.
  The Level 3 Award additionally teaches the skills required for supervisory roles, such as food safety management procedures, monitoring good hygiene practice, training staff, communication and ensuring compliance and implementation of legislation and procedures.
  Learners who achieve the new qualifications can progress onto further courses, such as Level 2 and 3 qualifications in Hospitality and Catering.
  Visit www.ncfe.co.uk for more information.

• 6 . A bigger school food policy

• The latest figures released on the take-up of school meals in England made disappointing reading both for the government and for those directly responsible for school catering. More worrying though were the warnings that the strict nutrition content guidelines now extended to secondary schools will only make things harder, reducing choice and adding to the decline.
  None of us can argue that high nutritional standards and sustainable procurement are not the right way to go but the “healthier option” label is of little incentive if the pupils do not like the food and the variety on offer is diminished by adherence to the rules.
  Despite the abundance of guidance aimed at catering managers and governing bodies, some food manufacturers are now arguing that many schools do not have the scope or skills to address the whole life sustainability of their meal provision without compromising the quality. One manufacturer, the Manchester Rusk Company (MRC), believes it is the suppliers, producers and manufacturers who should now be taking the lead.
  “It is not just about educating the buyers and catering staff that to achieve longer term, whole life value for money, food procurement needs to be sustainable” explained Stewart Niven Commercial Controller of MRC. “We believe that it is up to us as manufacturers to prove our products are nutritionally, environmentally and financially viable in order to simplify the procurement and menu design system for the schools and provide meals that the children want to eat.”
  The difficulty for MRC is that how meat is reared and gets to the table is a far more auditable narrative than the production, processing and transport impact of the sauces and seasonings that hold a meal together. In the wealth of guidance available there is little advice to manufacturers on their responsibilities as part of the supply chain and schools do not have the resources to undertake a detailed and time consuming analysis.
  Both the Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative and the Sustainable Schools Initiative have put enormous pressure on schools to demonstrate that their food procurement is in line with official policy. But the “sustainability” of food is notoriously complex and difficult to measure and many schools do not have the resources to police their own supply chains. Reconciling efficiency and sustainability in school catering cannot be managed without support from manufacturers providing products that already take account of environmental, social and economic factors.