Coleg Gwent students cooked up a storm at the Welsh international Culinary Championships, winning a collection of gold, silver and bronze awards.
The annual championships, hosted this year by Coleg Llandrillo, are an opportunity for chefs and service people of all levels to compete and celebrate the nation’s culinary skills and rich variety of quality food.
Professional Cookery Level 2 students from Crosskeys Campus proved they could stand the heat at the prestigious competition, as they battled it out against 200 students from 10 Welsh colleges.
The aspiring chefs impressed the judging panel with a wide variety of skills from filleting and cooking fish and preparing vegetables, meat and fruit, to laying and serving tables.
Student April Rymer, 18 from Portskewett, impressed the judges to win one gold, two silver; and four bronze awards. She said: “It was a nerve-racking experience but I thoroughly enjoyed it and gained a lot more confidence.”
With three silver and one bronze award, Ben Smith, 17 from Crumlin, is also very proud of his achievements: “I enjoyed the competition very much,” he said. “It gave me a lot of experience and confidence, and I was more than pleased with my results. I enjoyed working as a team and was glad to take part.”
Head of School for Services to People at Crosskeys Campus, Helen Lawless, said: “This was a fantastic opportunity and experience for the learners and we are all very proud of their success. The results are a credit to students and to the training they receive on their course – well done to all of them.”