A competition showcasing culinary skills from across the UK has seen Loughborough College scoop the Best in Show title for the second consecutive year – together with more than 40 top prizes.
Fifteen Hospitality and Catering students from the College faced a staggering 46 events over three days, going head to head with the nation’s top young chefs and servers and picking up 37 medals and four Merits before discovering they had retained the overall top award at the 2017 Welsh International Culinary Championships.
Loughborough College Hospitality lead Darren Creed joined students Marc Maristela, Raphael Cabarubias and Lechai MacManus to take gold for the Four Course Lunch and Joe Dewick also won gold for Chicken Cut for Saute. Marc Maristela made it a medal double with Best in Class silver in the Vegetarian Main Course category and it was Best in Class silver again for the College from Shannon Butler in the Hot Souffle Dessert category.
The College’s impressive points tally across all live events secured them the highest score overall and Gold Best In Class in the Inter-College Challenge.
“Only four of our students had competed there before but our results were outstanding – and we are doing that consistently,” said Darren Creed, who has been taking a team from Loughborough College to the Rhos on Sea competition for 16 years.
“That creates more pressure because as our reputation for excellence grows, so do expectations. But it is fantastic to have that recognition.
“In fact, at the end of the three days one of the judges, a group executive chef, offered three of our students jobs and he said all 15 of them were welcome to join him in London for work experience. That was a resounding vote of confidence that really put the icing on the cake.
“The teamwork amongst our students this year was superb. They came together, buddied up and got stuck in and it was great to see. We’re very, very proud of them all.”
And for Emily Bucknall, Sian Dixon and Aveir Gordon it is back to the kitchen as the trio prepare for the prestigious national Country Range Student Chef Challenge Grand Final in March.
Pictured: The Loughborough College team win overall Best in Show for the second year in a row at the 2017 Welsh International Culinary Championships