Hot Spot in the Kitchen at ScotHot

Carnegie College’s Hospitality students will be competing alongside chefs from across Scotland in the industry trade competitions, ‘ScotHot’ to be held at the SECC in Glasgow on 2 and 3 March. In the cook-offs, students will create dishes against the clock just like the TV programme ‘Masterchef’. One of the students, Richard Black (25) from Dunfermline, recently won Gold Medal the ‘Mystery Bag’ section in the recent ESS Defence Chef of the Year competitions held in the college’s training kitchens.  Richard, who is entered into the open meat dish class, and has to prepare a main course in 45 minutes, commented “Cooking against the clock can be nerve-wracking but really it is just like being on duty when the restaurant is busy. Pitching yourself against other chefs is really satisfying. You learn so much from doing it. At least at the SECC, we won’t have John Tovey shouting at us from the sidelines!” Fellow competitor, Ross Brannigan (19 from Dunfermline) one of the Higher students said “The competitions are a great way of stretching us and demanding more of our skills, which is great for us both in the restaurant and helping us prepare for our HNC studies with the Andrew Carnegie Business School next year. Richard and Ross will be joined by fellow student John Wallace (20 from Kelty) to represent Carnegie College. Ross and John are entered into the under 22 years Duck Dish class, and have 40 minutes to prepare, cook and present two portions of a duck crown.     The front-of-house service students are not to be left out of things either. Intermediate 2 students Nicole Carruthers and Danielle Easton (17 from Dunfermline) are entered in the open napkin folding class. Lecturer Ciaran Faherty commented “The competitions for front-of-house staff are really important in helping us to develop the skills that students need for employment. Front-of-house staff are the shop window of the business, and there is a lot riding on how they perform their tasks. These competitions show how important these skills are in the hospitality industry and give an opportunity for students themselves to showcase just how good they are.” Danielle and Nicole have 30 minutes to create and present 6 different napkin folds – two for private dining, two for a busy restaurant and two for a banquet.   Assistant Head of School, Andrew Carnegie Business School, Mary Fraser, said “This is an excellent opportunity for our students to pitch themselves against the best in their class across the Hospitality industry in Scotland. They get the chance to demonstrate their skills against the clock, testing their abilities to remain calm under pressure – just like on a busy day in a restaurant. It certainly helps build up their confidence as they look forward to their HNC studies next year.”