Loughborough College has been awarded gold at the 2019 Country Range Student Chef Challenge - after reaching the Grand Final of the prestigious national competition for the fourth consecutive year.
Isabel Morris, Kieran Rudolph and Tobias Booty lined up for a live-on-stage cook off against seven other winning teams from across the country under the watchful eye of an expert team of judges and the audience at major food and drink show ScotHot in Glasgow.
The Loughborough College trio worked against the clock to produce their winning four cover menu in only 90 minutes, creating pan seared sea bass fillet, Asian spiced mushroom broth, homemade chilli and lime noodles starter; roast breast of duck, fennel puree, heritage carrot, shiso leg bon bon, king mushroom, rainbow chard, vin jaune jus main course and a dessert of sticky toffee chocolate pudding, vanilla ice cream, salted caramel and chocolate shards.
“My hands were shaking before we started,” said Isobel. “We were up on stage and there were so many people watching and then there were the judges and the other teams. But once the clock began, I was totally in the zone, in my own bubble and forgot everyone else was there, apart from Kieran and Tobias. The only thing was our dishes and keeping the team working well together.
“We had to wait two hours for the result and when they announced we had won gold I couldn’t stop smiling. It was amazing.”
“Isabel, Kieran and Tobias absolutely smashed it. It was brilliant to watch. They didn’t put a foot wrong,” added chef lecturer and hospitality lead Darren Creed. “They had added some tweaks since the semi final to further enhance the dishes and their cooking was fantastic. They were cool, calm and composed - an outstanding team. We are incredibly proud of them.”
Pictured: Loughborough College’s Darren Creed joins (from left) Tobias Booty, Isabel Morris and Kieran Rudolph after the trio won gold at the 2019 Country Range Student Chef Challenge Grand Final