Sodexo Prestige Scotland events staff sharpen their skills in the kitchen
When Katy Webster joined Sodexo Prestige at Perth Racecourse as an event co-ordinator, she didn’t think she would get the chance to learn how to make spicy Thai chicken salads or discover the secrets of a perfect seasonal fruit starter with Pimm’s and mint sugar.
But that’s exactly what Katy and seven other events co-ordinators from Sodexo Prestige Scotland did this week during a hands-on day-long class at Cook School Scotland, run by one of the company’s supply partners, Braehead Foods.
During the morning, Cook School Scotland chefs Phil Lewis and Michael George showed the staff how to prepare the Thai chicken salad followed by a chocolate fondant, which the staff then cooked themselves for their lunch.
In the afternoon, Prestige executive chef Stephen Frost and head chef Trevor Garden prepared a selection of dishes from the new menus for 2012. These included the seasonal fruit starter and another a starter of foie gras mousse, pear carpaccio, spiced brioche crumbs, cardamom and orange dressing with smoked salt crust, and a main course of slow roasted Ayrshire pork belly, black pudding, lobster tempura, spinach, ginger carrot puree and creamed potato.
The team learned about how the ingredients were selected, how flavours worked together, and some technical information about different types of cooking. They were also given a fun taste test where they were challenged to recognise a variety of meat, fish, fruit and vegetables.
Afterwards, Katy Webster said: “We promote this wonderful food to our clients throughout the year, but I didn’t necessarily have that much in-depth knowledge about the products themselves and how they are prepared every day. Being able to prepare and cook some of the food has given me a real appreciation of the products which I can convey to our clients. It was a really fun experience and the chefs were very good at explaining what they do.”
Sodexo Prestige Scotland events co-ordinators from Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Hamilton Park Racecourse, Hampden Stadium, and at company headquarters in South Queensferry near Edinburgh, joined Ms Webster at the demonstration at Cook School Scotland, which is in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire.
Mr Frost said: “This was a great opportunity to give our events co-ordinators an insight into what we do in the kitchen as well as some hands-on and fun experience of preparing the food. By enhancing their knowledge of the food side of the business, our staff can convey to clients just how passionate we at Sodexo Prestige are about food.”
Austin Tilsley, Sodexo Prestige Scotland regional director, said: “We are constantly looking for ways to improve the skills and knowledge of our staff and great food and fresh ingredients are at the heart of what we do every day. It’s all-too-easy for invisible barriers to exist between our chefs and the rest of the company, but by giving our events co-ordinators a practical insight into how we prepare our food, we can really enthuse them and help them deliver an even better food experience to our clients.”
Cook School Scotland managing director Craig Stevenson said: “At Cook School Scotland, we’re delighted to have the chance to work with event organisers and commercial caterers to highlight the quality of Scottish produce and the skills involved in making the most of it.”