Budding chefs from England and France join forces to create fine dining experience

10 December 2013

On Tuesday 3 December the College’s state-of-the-art kitchens were put to extra good use with 12 French catering students, from the Faculté des Métiers de l’Essonne, joining the college’s Hospitality and Catering students to produce lunch for over 30 guests, organised through the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

The students, along with two chef lecturers and their head of international, were granted €10 000 to visit England and discover kitchen skills outside of France, present their adaptable working methods, and to watch and learn from the College’s catering students and staff. 

The international students, who stayed for 6 nights, visited the St Albans Quality Hotel, Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in Verulamium Park, Brasserie Blanc St Albans and Pendley Manor in Tring. However, their chance to showcase their culinary skills began on Monday when they teamed up with an Oaklands student to produce a modern twist on typically English meals including bangers and mash, full English breakfast and beef wellington.   

More cooking was carried out on Tuesday with a four-course lunch service provided for special guests including organiser Annie Hawkins, Hertfordshire LEP, Ed Flanagan, Quality Hotel, Rob Leader, Blanc Brasserie, Lisa Bates and Morgana Evans, St Albans Chamber of Commerce and Matt Adams, Herts Advertiser. 

The menu included some familiar and not so familiar ingredients, with the meal starting with Fraicheur d’ Ecrevisses (crayfish), Escargots au Chablis (snails), and Gougere au Fromage (cheese puffs). The main course was the well-known French dish of Boeuf Bourguignon and dessert was Poires Belle Dijonnaise (poached pears).

Sambit Sen, Director of Apprenticeships and Business Partnerships, commented: “I would like to give a big thank you to all involved in the seamless exchange programme arranged with the Faculté des Métiers de l’Essonne, especially Annie Hawkins from the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership for thinking of us when this opportunity arose. 

“I know that our students have gained a rich experience as a result of this exchange programme and hope that students from the Faculté des Métiers de l’Essonne found it just as rewarding.

“I look forward to growing the college’s relationship with the school.”