Successful and renowned local chefs Nathan Outlaw and Paul Ripley joined catering students from St Austell and Camborne to showcase their talents. With over 20 students watching his every move, Nathan lead the first ever masterclass at the College, on soups, as part of Academy Nathan Outlaw, a new partnership between Nathan and Cornwall College.
Nathan, who trained at Cornwall College after moving to Cornwall, explained the importance of the masterclasses: “At Cornwall College the students are doing a great course, what I’m here to do is to offer them that little bit extra so when they do get out into the big wide world they are the best chefs they can be.”
He continued: “I have shown them three very different soups that are not on the college curriculum. It was just to stress to them the importance of getting the seasoning and the consistency right and making sure they have quality ingredients. Every soup that I have made today is actually quite a cheap, frugal type of soup that’s not going to break the bank. That’s one thing I want them to understand about ingredients as well, that usually the simpler the ingredients the better.”
The students took notes and got involved in the tasting as Nathan prepared three soups, celeriac and apple puree soup, watercress soup and fish soup. He explained why he chose these in particular: “I wanted to show them a puree soup, celeriac and apple, to see just how quick it is to make. Then we made the watercress soup, here we wanted to show how to keep something fresh and vibrant with the green colour. The last one was a fish soup which is my favourite; here we showed the importance of how to marry the ingredients so chefs do not over or under power the fish.”
Nathan and Paul have worked together for many years with Nathan training with Paul when he first moved to Cornwall when he was 19 years old. The two of them will soon be opening a restaurant together in Looe, where they hope to offer a British version of tapas utilising the fresh fish from the harbour.
The students that are part of the Academy Nathan Outlaw will get amazing opportunities to join in master classes every month which will encompass areas such as; shellfish, vegetarian cookery, exotic vegetables and seaweeds and molecular cookery.
Kate Adam, 24, from Plymouth is studying Professional Cookery VRQ Diploma in Kitchen and Larder at St Austell really enjoyed the session: “We have a soup exam later this year so I will be taking the tips I have learnt today to help prepare for that. My favourite soup today was the watercress soup as it was so fresh and vibrant and looks so pleasing to the eye! It was great to see a professional working through the recipes so we could cement our learning.”
The next masterclass will be held at Cornwall College Camborne and will focus on fish. The Academy currently delivers a VRQ Level 3 professional Cookery course but will expand in its second year from 2013 to incorporate VRQ Level 1 and Level 2 Professional Cookery and Front of House courses at Camborne, St Austell and Saltash campuses.
For more information about catering courses at Cornwall College and Academy Nathan Outlaw please contact 0845 22 32 567 or visit www.cornwall.ac.uk and www.academynathanoutlaw.com.
