Eight new chefs graduate from Elior's Chef School
Eight new chefs have graduated from Elior's Chef School, the initiative which was launched last year to help aspiring chefs enter the profession.
Elior has been working with client the Ministry of Defence (MOD), which offered a space at one of its army bases in Grantham for the training facilities. The eight students were already working for Elior as general assistants and kitchen porters.
During the 10-month training course, the aspiring chefs visited Smithfield market in London to learn how to butcher meat and fillet fish correctly, attended masterclasses on baking cakes and pies, and cooked with four Michelin-starred chefs.
Stuart Nisbet, development chef at Elior, said: "The company was keen to develop our own talent pool of chefs owing to the limited number of skilled chefs we had to recruit from externally. As well as teaching the chefs to prepare great food, we also wanted to instil in our new chefs the importance of great service.
Karl Silverwood, staff sergeant major of the Royal Logistic Corps, said: "I personally think the whole experience of Chef School has been outstanding. The food that was delivered was exceptional and it goes to show what can be achieved when you put the effort into developing people. It's great that the Army and Elior can work in partnership to bring together the development of chefs - it's a win-win situation for both."
New chef Nathan Brown added: "I work at an extra care site cooking for around 30 people each day - so catering for 100 people was a real highlight of the course for me. I learned new techniques and recipes, as well as valuable time management and life skills which I'll take with me and use every day in my kitchen."
Seven of the eight people who attended Chef School are now working in their new careers as chefs.
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