Country Range Student Chef Challenge semi-finalists announced

Twenty UK college teams have qualified for the semi-finals of the Country Range Student Chef Challenge, taking place from the week beginning 6 February.

Three semi-finals will be held at Loughborough College on 9 February, at the City of Glasgow College on 10 February and the City of Liverpool College on 13 February. Eight teams will make it through to the final on 15 March in the Live Theatre of ScotHot, Scotland's biggest food, drink and hospitality show.

Alongside the competition trophy, the winning team will also be awarded the opportunity to work with the Craft Guild of Chef's culinary team in catering for over 1,000 guests at the Craft Guild of Chefs Annual Awards 2017.

Coral Rose, managing director of Country Range Group, said: "Interest has been terrific for this year's challenge and the standard of applications was incredible, making the judging extremely tough. Commiserations to those who didn't quite make it and congratulations to the successful teams. If the menus turn out half as good as they sounded, the judges are in for a treat."

The semi-finalists will create their three-course, three-cover menu around the theme of ‘Healthy Gourmet Fine Dining' to consist of:

• A vegetarian starter containing at least one grain, such as amaranth, chia seeds, freekeh or quinoa
• A main course that can contain meat or fish but must be centred around imaginative, healthy cooking techniques
• A dessert that should contain fruit where possible and refrain from containing too much butter and cream.

The shortlisted colleges are:

• Loughborough College
• City of Liverpool College
• Bishop Burton College
• Newbury College
• Henley College Coventry
• City of Glasgow College
• Glasgow Clyde College
• City College Norwich
• SERC (Downpatrick) College
• Blackpool & Fylde College
• Sussex Downs College
• Westminster Kingsway
• Coleg Llandrillo
• Hopwood Hall College
• Derby University Team 1
• Ayrshire College Team 1
• Derby University Team 2
• Ayrshire College Team 2
• Derby University Team 3
• Macclesfield College

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