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On Tuesday 14th June, City College Southampton opened their kitchen doors to welcome Business Development Chef Robin Dudley and Development Manager Gary Kilminster for an inspirational street food kitchen takeover! 

During an Essential Cuisine kitchen takeover, our team of passionate chefs work alongside students in their training environment to create mouth-watering dishes, with the aim to teach the budding young chefs invaluable skills whilst working with guest chefs.

Business Development Chef, Robin commented, “It can sometimes be daunting for students to be given a blind box and a limited time to create a dish, but the class today really excelled. It was great to see the range of different ideas and techniques on show. Street food is fast becoming a main stay of the dining out scene, so we felt is was important for the students to see this. They really put on a show of big punchy flavours, in smaller hand held portions, which can be hard to get right. There was a real buzz from the students which was great to be a part of. We look forward to seeing them continue their culinary journey.”

We caught up with Simon Hart, Chef Lecturer, to find about the experience...

How impactful was the Essential Cuisine street food demo for your students?

The students were interested and engaged throughout. The session reflected current food trends and gave the students the opportunity to create their own style of street food.

How has 2022 been for you and your students?

Many of the students have struggled to return to normal. The lack of formal face-to-face education seemed to affect the students when they started with us in September. Students seemed to be more anxious about working closely with others. In regards to achievements, all of our students have now achieved but we have run regular additional classes throughout the year to help build their skills so they are able to work at the levels required. I have completed the mental health first aider course to make me more aware of the students current needs. As a team we were ready to get back into the classroom as learning online does not suit the courses we run or the students we have. Many of the students do not have the technology or the equipment to work online.

Would you recommend our Essential Cuisine kitchen takeover to your fellow food lecturers / teachers?

I would definitely recommend the street food session and other sessions Essential Cuisine have done with us here at the college. These sessions  help with students personal development as they are required to think, plan and execute their own dishes. These are skills that they will need in industry. Students personal development is key - students need to have these opportunities to help them build their self-confidence.

Do you have any advice for future chefs and people wanting to enter the industry?

Advice for anyone in the industry would to submerge yourself in as many opportunities as possible to help develop new and existing skills. Don’t be afraid to try something new. You must taste all dishes and try new products so that you can best understand how to use them.

Lastly, what stood out for you the most during the Essential Cuisine street food demo?

As always both Gary and Robin worked well with our students and the session was gauged correctly for the level of learners they were working with. From a product perspective personally I was really impressed with the Street Food chef Peanut Free Satay Style Seasoning - I think I will be buying one for home and will also be using it at the college next year.

To discover how Essential Cuisine can support your college and students, click here or email [email protected].