A few weeks ago all the Year 10 catering students were visited by a chef from Colchester Institute and he showed us how to prepare and cook certain foods, even letting us try some dishes.

First of all he showed us how to prepare a whole chicken and all the different parts that we could use and eat. He showed us how to break the legs of the chicken and then separate them from the rest of the body. Then he put them all in a pile including chicken thighs, legs and breast.

After a break he showed us how to prepare a fish: it was fascinating to see how he took the fish scales off and how he removed the eyes and fins from the body. He gave us tips along the way to make sure the fish was fresh and ready to be cooked.
He then offered us a small dish of stir fry which was delicious, followed by some fabulous brownies. 

In the couple of hours that we were taught by him, the whole class appreciated his skill and learnt new and different skills that we could use to improve our own dishes. I personally thought the food that he cooked was delicious and the whole thing was a bit of a learning curve because if I use his tips, along with cooking high-level dishes in my GCSEs, I think I can achieve a high grade. 

All in all it was a great couple of hours during which we learnt many different things to try from a great chef. We also discovered potential college courses linked to catering and hospitality. - Brad Jarvis (Year 10)