Selby College Hospitality & Catering Newsletter Autumn 2024
Department Newsletter
Autumn I 2024
Welcome
Greetings from Selby College’s Hospitality & Catering Department!
I am thrilled to welcome you to read our departmental newsletter, an exciting new publication designed to keep you informed and engaged with the latest happenings, developments, and opportunities in our amazing department.
As the head of the department, I am continually inspired by the passion and innovation that our students and staff bring to the world of hospitality and catering. This newsletter is our way of sharing that inspiration with you.
In this edition, you can expect to find a wealth of information. We’ll bring you the latest news from our department, keeping you up-to-date with current trends and departmental achievements.
We also believe in the power of real stories to inspire and guide. That’s why we will be featuring student case studies, showcasing the journeys, challenges, and successes of our students. These stories not only highlight the real-world application of our courses but also serve as a testament to the supportive and innovative environment that Selby College offers.
Head of Hospitality & Catering
Wren Kitchens Donates Equipment to Students
Selby College’s Hospitality & Catering students are equipped for the academic year ahead following Wren Kitchens’ generous donation.
Each student has been gifted NEFF digital kitchen scales which will help them measure and weigh ingredients when preparing food and drinks.
In addition to being used in assessments, the students will also use the scales to create a range of dishes for the College’s onsite restaurant.
As part of their first assessment of the academic year, the students prepared a range of fruit and vegetable-based dishes. This included poached pear with fruit compote and Chantilly cream, stuffed baked tomato with mushroom and garlic and deep coated potato onion rings.
“Wren is not just about success in the kitchen retail sector, we take great pride in supporting local communities where we can. What better way to do this than support those that are training to make their careers within the kitchen environment. We wish Selby students every success in their development and are so pleased Wren was able to contribute to their training. “
Debra Hutt, Head of PR at Wren Kitchens
Using the finest locally sourced produce, the College’s onsite restaurant offers a range of delicious meals at competitive prices.
HOSPITALITY & CATERING
Pudding with Chocolate Sauce.
The restaurant opens on Thursday lunch times and evenings throughout the academic year, which include a number of themed nights.
We’re incredibly grateful to Wren Kitchens for their generous donation. Our students use digital scales in every element of their course, from practical assessments to preparing dishes for our onsite restaurant, so it’s vital that they each have their own set of scales to work from. They have already been using the scales to experiment with some new recipes, which we’re looking forward to introducing as part of our restaurant lunches and evenings throughout the year.”
- Adrian Dawes, Subject Lead for Hospitality & Catering at Selby College
Recent meals on the menu have included Sautéed Duck Breast Salad, Hake with Cockles and Mussels served in a White Wine Beurre Blanc and Chocolate Chip Steamed Suet
Ben Porter
Fun Facts!
There were 32,659 restaurant businesses in the UK in 2023. In 2022, there were 475,000 people employed in the restaurant industry in the UK. There are 194 restaurants with a Michelin Star in the UK as of 2022.
The AA Restaurant Guide Rosette Awards is the recognised rating in the UK. There are over 2,000 rosette awards each year and a restaurant can be awarded up to five rosettes.
Hear from our Students
Beth
I enjoy cooking and love the Hospitality and Catering course that I am doing. The tutors are really supportive and will help you with anything that you need. I hope one day to be an executive chef in my own restaurant and this course will help me get there.
I have always enjoyed cooking. The Hospitality and Catering course allows me to do this whilst learning in both a practical and hands-on fashion and will help me in my goal of becoming a chef.
Phattaradanai
I decided to do professional cookery as my family have a local restaurant which I will soon be tasked with taking over. This course helps me to understand hospitality from all angles so that I can adapt this to my family’s business.
The Restaurant Industry market size (revenue) in the UK in 2023 was $19.9 billion.
Callum
Students Wow Audience at Eat Your Heart Out Festival
Selby College’s Hospitality and Catering students cooked up a storm at Selby District Council’s Eat Your Heart Out event –demonstrating how to cook low-budget, tasty meals.
The festival, which took place at Selby Abbey on Friday 31st March, provided a programme of food-themed events, talks, activities and live cooking demonstrations.
The College’s Level 2 Professional Cookery students, alongside Subject Lead for Hospitality & Catering, Adrian Dawes, took to the stage to demonstrate how to make its Broccoli and Cheddar soup.
This was just one of the meals which was on the budget recipe card that the students prepared for the event, helping attendees to try new recipes whilst keeping ingredient costs low.
Other recipes included Apple Pie, Crème Brule, Asian pan-seared Tuna, Dijon Lamp Chops and Chicken Milanese.
“In the midst of the cost-of-living crisis, the students really wanted to showcase recipes which were budget-friendly and used simple ingredients which anyone has in their fridge or the cupboard. I’m incredibly proud of their creations and their ability to showcase them to the audience at the event, making home cooking look fun and affordable. We hope that attendees found the demonstration useful and that they enjoy trying their hand at some of these recipes at home!”
Adrian Dawes, Subject Lead for Hospitality & Catering
Chef Consultant, Stephanie Moon, also spoke to Adrian and the students during the demonstration about the Hospitality and Catering department at Selby College and its successes over the years.
This includes when the department was presented with Pearson’s Silver Teaching award from its Further Education Team of the Year category, after being selected from more than 20,000 nominations.
With a passion for creating recipes, Joshua has helped to create set menus for the College’s onsite restaurant. Joshua’s menus explore food through the decades, featuring traditional dishes like scampi and chips, sponge pudding and more.
What I’ve learnt on my course and the support from my tutors has given me the confidence as an aspiring chef to try new recipes and methods of cooking. It was great to be able to put this to the test at the Eat Your Heart Out event and to show people that cooking from scratch really doesn’t have to be expensive or complex.”
- Joshua Winter, Level 2 Professional Cookery student
Check out some of our student made dishes!
OPEN EVENTS
FIND OUT
SATURDAY 19th OCTOBER 10am-12pm MONDAY 10th FEBRUARY 5pm-7pm
WEDNESDAY 20th NOVEMBER 5pm-7pm WEDNESDAY 18th JUNE 5pm-7pm
