Olive it! 2015 Catering Competition Final
The final of the 2015 Olive it! Catering College Competition was held at the Good Housekeeping Institute Dining Room in Soho, London on Wednesday 27 May. A wonderful evening was had as 8 student chefs battled it out to be crowned the olive champion.
During the live cook off, the eight finalists had just 3.5 hours to recreate their olive-inspired menus and present their final dishes to some of the most influential names in the industry, including the six judges; TV chef Omar Allibhoy, olive sector representative Ignacio Pérez, Lisa Jenkins of The Caterer, hospitality expert Joel Fagg, Maria Jose Sevilla, director of Foods and Wines from Spain, Spanish author and presenter and Urvashi Roe at The Botanical Baker blog and owner of the Library Café in Enfield.
The judges expressed their admiration for all of the finalists’ dishes and their innovative flair, saying that the level of expertise was remarkable, especially as the students were under extreme time pressure.
Congratulations to Kieran McGarrigle from Westminster Kingsway College on winning the title of the Olive it! 2015 student catering champion. He demonstrated the versatility and flavour of olives extremely well in all three of his courses. In joint second place were James McGrath and Louis Chisholm, both from the Colchester Institute.
A huge thanks to all our judges, and applause to all our finalists. They truly are the stars of tomorrow!
