Zest Quest Asia inspire catering and hospitality students

Murray Chapman, Director of Passion to Inspire, recently joined Catering and Hospitality students to introduce the @ZestQuestAsia culinary competition and talk through some of the flavours, techniques and dishes to be experienced across Asia. 

The competition invites college catering students to prepare a dish using rice as one of the main ingredients. The challenge is set to test student competitor’s technical expertise, creativity, knowledge, understanding and appreciation of Asian cuisine.

To support the students with their planning, guest speakers Harvir Deol and Luke Dalley, from Tilda, delivered a presentation on the origins of rice, the labour-intensive methods of rice farming and the many different varieties and uses of rice in cooking today. The presentation highlighted the vast options available when cooking with rice, opening the minds of the students as they prepare their entries for the Zest Quest competition.

Once the students have created their dishes, they are required to email their submissions to their tutor, before uploading a photograph to Facebook or Instagram along with their full name, college, tutor and competition hashtags.

The closing date for entries is 17^th February after which the finalists in the first round will be revealed. The second round of the competition will see the students prepare a set menu in their college kitchen, with their lecturer as Commis Chef.

Murray is one of several Master Chefs of Great Britain to support the Zest Quest initiative as they aim to bridge the gap between the next generation of chefs and the industry.