University of West London’s LGCHT students crowned winners of Zest Quest Asia 2023
Intro
Culinary arts management and food studies students from the London Geller College of Hospitality and Tourism (LGCHT) have won the Zest Quest Asia 2023 competition.
The result was announced at a lavish awards ceremony on Friday 17 February at The Raddison hotel, Heathrow.
Main body
Zest Quest Asia is a national competition designed to raise the profile of Asian cuisine and cookery as a future career for budding chefs in Great Britain, aiming to level up home-grown talents.
BSc (Hons) Nutrition and Food Management student Olivia Parker-Smith, BSc (Hons) Culinary Arts Management students, Nekeshia Alcee and Prema Rebekah Kaur Sembi-Harding of the LGCHT of the University of West London, together with their mentor Nathan Vasanthan, have won a “once-in-a-lifetime”, money-can’t-buy trip to Bangkok, Thailand!
LGCHT was competing against five other colleges in a ‘cook-off 'with each team producing a four-course, authentic menu from their chosen Asian cuisine. The competition started with a Q&A session with the judges, where each team presented the background of their dishes, why they chose them as well as the sustainability of their key ingredients and what impact these may have on the environment.
The judging panel was made up of chefs from the hospitality industry, including the award-winning chef Steve Munkley, competition founders Cyrus Todiwala OBE and Pervin Todiwala, Clive Roberts, Murray Chapman and pastry judge, Sarah Hartnett. In addition to winning, our students were awarded the “Minimum wastage” and “Best use” of a Panasonic accelerated combi- oven awards.
Additional awards presented during the evening including best lack/use of wastage, which was also won by the University of West London.
Nathan Vasanthan, mentor and Senior Lecturer and Course leader for BA (Hons) Food Business Management, said:
This competition is one of the most challenging yet rewarding in the country. I am so delighted and proud of the students for their magnificent win. They have demonstrated their research skills around authentic pan-Asian gastronomy, culture, and heritage.
One of the key requirements of the competition is to highlight sustainability within their menus, production techniques and sourcing of ingredients and they successfully delivered on this.
It’s a great profile for UWL to have the competition in our kitchens and it's a really good opportunity to promote the university and to showcase the quality of our facilities to all stakeholders.”
- Find out more about the BSc (Hons) Culinary Arts Management and BSc (Hons) Nutrition and Food Management courses at London Geller College of Hospitality and Tourism.
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