Our Hospitality and Catering learners are excelling with their talents, creating many dishes per week for our staff and students, and developing their skills more and more each time. To upscale their abilities even further, chefs from the Railway at Thatchers came in and hosted a seafood masterclass, providing them with professional, hands-on experience that they can use throughout their course. 

During this masterclass, James, the head chef, and Callum, the sous chef, taught the students how to prepare fish from whole but also how to steam mussels and create delicious dishes that they likely had not previously attempted. 

To prepare the fish, the learners had to remove the skeleton very carefully which takes skill and precision. The two types of fish the learners used were seabass and plaice in order to master both flat and round fish. Once the fish were ready, the learners moved on to prepping the remaining ingredients to make their final dishes: plaice en papilotte with fennel and orange, and a seabass dish with romesco sauce and crispy garlic. 

These dishes turned out incredible, especially for their first try, and was an excellent portrayal of the students’ hard work and determination. Not only did they learn more about how to prepare and cook seafood, they also impressed the Head Chef at the Railway not only with their cooking, but also their enthusiasm.  

The chefs then delivered a session on how to produce steamed mussels (in cider of course!), prepare prawns, and create an Asian broth from a stock. This broth was then served with the fresh oysters to make another delicious seafood dish. The learners were then able to try traditional oysters with lemon and tabasco as well. 

James, the Head Chef at the Railway, oversees all of the food, from the daily changing menus, to the special event menus and corporate buffets. James said, “the students all seemed very interested in the masterclass and gave it their all. All the final dishes were great, and it was good fun seeing some of them try oysters for the first time!” 

At Thatchers, they take on many apprentices in order to build the next generation of staff in a hands-on but supportive environment, and the Railway do just that. “It’s great having apprentices working with us who are keen to cook great food and I’m happy to have the opportunity to give a little back to the future of our industry.” 

Not only did the students learn invaluable skills from this professional masterclass, but they also enjoyed the day and left with more confidence in preparing and cooking seafood. They also built upon their taste pallets by trying a variety of dishes that they may not normally get the opportunity to try. 

Jenna Ratcliffe, Head of Service Sectors at Weston College, says, “our Careers Excellence Hub (CEH) partnership with Thatchers highlights our commitment to meaningful employer connections. We are grateful that these relationships are directly benefitting our students’ readiness for a career and are positively impacting their experience here at Weston College.” 

We’d like to give a big thank you to James and Callum from the Railway at Thatchers for running this fantastic masterclass for our students, it was an extremely successful day! 

If you’re interested in applying to a Hospitality and Catering course in September, click here.