Hotelympia, London: Two of hospitality’s leading lights – Nestlé Professional® CHEF® and COMPASS – have joined forces to demonstrate their commitment to developing the Industry’s talent pool. The move represents an extension of the Nestlé Toque d’Or®, the company’s flagship nationwide competition for catering colleges, and an example of training and development in practice.
As a result of the partnership, four Professional Cookery Level 3 students from Compass have been working together with the CHEF® Team at Nestlé Professional® to create four new canapé recipes which will be served by the students at the Hotelympia CHEF® pop-up kitchen on Tuesday 28th and Wednesday 29th February. The initiative has involved the students in the menu development process, budgeting and sourcing as well as exposing them to new cooking methods, food preparation and delivery in a ‘real life’ scenario at Hotelympia.
Gary Richmond, Chef Development Trainer for Compass Group UK& Irelanddelivers the Professional Cookery Level 3 programme: “It is particularly important in times such as these to develop our chefs to motivate and inspire, this is the surest way to get the best out of our team members. There are a number of trends we’ve looked to capitalise on as part of the recipe development process, from sustainability, provenance and local sourcing, toAsian street food. It’s all about teaching these young chefs how important it is to be aware of industry and consumer trends and how to leverage these to the benefit of diners and ultimately the business.”
Nick Vadis, UK Executive Chef for Compass and CHEF® Ambassador, commented: “This initiative acts as a showcase for the exceptional talent of these youngsters; putting into practice their new filleting and skinning skills, new cooking methods, budgeting and sourcing methods that they’ve learnt as part of their qualification that will ultimately add value for our clients.”
Neil Stephens, Managing Director at Nestlé Professional® said: “Planning in training can seem like a ‘nice to have’ rather than a ‘must have’ but in truth, developing and conserving our talent is key for the future of any business and indeed for the hospitality industry as a whole. Working in partnership with Compass evolved naturally as the company shares our commitment to investing in staff development, both theoretically and practically.”
The four canapés that have been designed by the students and that will be served at Hotelympia are based on four customer trends identified by CHEF® as being ‘hot’ for 2012:
- The ‘Best of British’ Oxtail Bonbons with Fresh Horseradish uses traditional cuts of meat, and is braised in CHEF® FLAKES Fonds Brun Lié
- ‘Asian Street Food’ style Thai Pork & Prawn Dim Sum uses CHEF® FLAKES Porc as a stock to bind the flavours and ingredients in the dim sum
- ‘Natural & Subtle’ dishes like Scandinavian influenced Turbot, Watercress Emulsion and Spring Leaves advocate an honesty and transparency message with the use of locally sourced fish. This dish uses CHEF® Fumet de Poisson in the emulsion
- Our aptly named Feijoada dish evokes a sense of fun and informality. This traditional Brazilian-inspired stew is made with pork and black beans. As diners become increasingly well travelled, dishes influenced by foreign climes will play a bigger role in restaurant menus. CHEF® FLAKES Porc is used to braise the pork and beans
To sample and vote for your favourite canapés, visit stand no S3030 at Hotelympia and discover how to embrace key food trends to benefit your business.
