Nov 14, 2011
Hospitality and Catering students at Nelson and Colne College have welcomed the Ministry of Chocolate to the kitchens to learn about the fine art of chocolate making!
Catering and Hospitality students Jonathan Nadin, Kaheed Uqlan and Christine Lewin with The Minister for Chocolate
East Lancashire has an enviable array of top-class restaurants and Nelson and Colne College has a long-standing reputation for providing these with the next generation of culinary talent. The College has seen its students go on to work in the best local restaurants, and some of the top restaurants in the UK, including Raymond Blanc’s multi-award winning restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat ‘ Saisons.
Chocolate making is a fine art in itself with talented chefs making a whole career out of creating exquisite chocolate. During the workshop with The Ministry of Chocolate the students learnt about the origins and history of chocolate, before learning more about the chocolate making process itself, and how to identify ‘bad’ chocolate, such as that made with vegetable oil instead of Cocoa Butter. The Minister for Chocolate Karl Turner also explained why American chocolate differs in taste from that in the UK – the secret being that American chocolate makers actually sour the milk before using it to make their products!
The students also had a chance to sample some of the chocolate making techniques, producing their own samples to take home.
Jason Benn, curriculum leader for Catering and Hospitality at the College said, “We were really pleased to welcome The Ministry of Chocolate to the department to teach the students more about chocolate making. Skills such as this really add value to the students’ CVs and is an example of the work undertaken by the department to give our students a really broad, but in-depth experience. We are proud of what our students go on to achieve and many expressed a real interest in chocolate making as a result of this event.”
