Students on an Entry to Employment (E2E) course devised and organised a staff cooking competition at the College’s Queens Park Centre. The organisers, Mahmudul Karim, Richard Cohen and Craig Wills, did an excellent job of publicising the event and inspiring staff to go the extra mile for the honour of being named 2009 Credit Crunch Masterchef.
The students on the one-year programme all have mild to moderate learning difficulties, and put together the competition for the ‘mini enterprise’ part of their coursework. They devised the structure of the event, set out the judging criteria and funded the event by collecting a £1 entrants’ fee. Then – as you’d expect from any gourmet judging panel – the class of E2E students got down to the serious business of eating their way through piles of delicious food.
The catch for entrants was the budget they had to work with - imaginative and tasty meals costing £1, £3 and £5. As this was organised as a series of knockout rounds, College staff were also required to spend a lot of time slaving over a hot stove in order to prove their culinary expertise. One worthy contender Gary Ho cooked a fabulous five-course Chinese banquet for just £5!
The student judging panel had a tough job deciding on winners because of the excellent standard of entries, but eventually presented the Awards to:
1st - Esther Adeyeye (Course Tutor for E2E)
2nd - Gary Ho (Learning Support Assistant)
3rd - Andy Treadwell (Technicians Services Co-ordinator)
One of the organisers Mahmudul Karim has a special interest in all things culinary. Having gained work experience at Sainsbury’s Tottenham Court Road as part of the E2E programme, he is the first student to have gained permanent employment and now works in the store’s grocery department.
Mahmudul says: “It was quite difficult to persuade staff to enter the Awards, but we wanted to do something different and fun. We have already done other projects such a crazy Christmas pie competition. I’m not a very good cook myself, but I do like eating.”
2009 Credit Crunch Masterchef Esther Adeyeye, who won over the judges with her Chicken Tikka and mango ice cream, is modest about her victory. Esther says: “We all deserved the Award because everyone worked very hard and cooked really tasty meals.
“Of course, the real winners were our E2E students, who persuaded us to cook them an enormous feast!”