Haute Dogs, Sushi, Pastry & Butchery Star at Welsh College Taster Day

Maes Manor was full of Newport school students on Thursday 31st March who enjoyed masterclasses, food, drinks – and dancing at the Coleg Gwent Hospitality Industry Taster Day!

Organised by The Chefs’ Forum as part of its ongoing initiative to get school students to learn about hospitality the 2 hour morning session was fully booked.

Delicious Welsh produce was kindly sponsored by Wales’ leading foodservice supplier Castell Howell.

Emma Spender, Head Chef at Maes Manor gave a cookery demo which was followed by a sausage-making masterclass by Tim Hanks from Hanks’ Meat & Game. Next up was a sushi-making demo by Japanese expert Keiko Urakawa followed by a pastry demo by Bake Off: The Professionals 2021 winner Andrew Minto.

Students then enjoyed ‘haute’ dogs and participated in a sushi rolling competition. The event was open to students from years 8-11.

Catherine Farinha, Director of The Chefs’ Forum, said:

“We had a great day. The demos were superb and we even had music and dancing at the end. It was a great way to introduce the students to the world of hospitality and our chefs delivered an amazing array of different techniques and ideas.

“The point is that school students need to be inspired to enter hospitality and we were thrilled to be able to include chefs that they may have seen on the television: Andrew from Bake Off: The Professionals!”

Emma Spender, Head chef at Maes Manor gave a brilliant demonstration on how to cook the perfect steak. She said “I’m really looking forward to teaching in The Chefs’ Forum Academy at Coleg Gwent… it’s great to give back and it was so wonderful to have so many talented chefs in my kitchen today – the students were a real credit to their college too and the school children loved the whole experience!”

Helen Lawless. Head of School – Services to People at Coleg Gwent said:

“Once again The Chefs’ Forum pushed the boundaries of raising awareness of what we do here at Gwent. This is just the sort of event that makes it easier for us to attract students to study professional cookery and hospitality. We’re thrilled to be a Chefs’ Forum Academy and it is going from strength to strength.”