15th Mar 2012 - 00:00
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Team UK represented by Westminster Kingsway College’s (WKC) professional chef students Caroline Kerber Wetzel and Nuannapa Ratanakitsunthorn and their mentor, chef lecturer Vince Cottam, won the top award in the International Colleges’ Culinary Competition.
Five international colleges specialising in culinary arts and hospitality gathered at WKC to take part in the competition, held to coincide with the British Council's Going Global 2012 London conference, which provides an opportunity for chef students to demonstrate their skills. The other participants were: Hospitality Industry Training & Development Centre, Hong Kong; Orange Coast College, USA; Wellington Institute of Technology, New Zealand; and Polytechnic West, Australia. Each team was tasked with preparing a series of courses to be judged in the competition and provide a business plan to support their chosen menus. Judges included Mark Flanagan, executive chef to the Royal Household at Buckingham Palace. The five teams also cooked a celebration course to represent their own countries at a gala dinner held in WKC's Vincent Rooms for more than 90 guests where the overall competition winners were announced. Simon Bartlett, president of WorldSkills International, presented Team UK with its prizes. Team New Zealand received the second prize overall as well as the Best Dessert award, with Team Australia taking the third prize. The team from Hong Kong was awarded the Best Business Plan award while the WKC team was also awarded the Best Starter and Best Main Course awards. Chef student Nuannapa Ratanakitsunthorn said: "This was an amazing competition and we have met some great people from around the world. We have learnt so much from each other and practised our skills. The competition was lots of work but we have had great support from the college."