Entente Cordiale competition held at East Kent College

Celebrating culinary students on both sides of the English Channel, four teams went head-to-head in the Entente Cordiale culinary competition at East Kent College last Thursday. 

Now in its eighth year, the Entente Cordiale competition saw Oliver Miccoli representing The Bournemouth & Poole College and Morgane Werwinski from the Lycée Paul Valery in Menton win first place, with Harry Fields, East Kent College and Romain Soudani, Lycée de Croisset coming second.

The competition brought together students from East Kent College, Westminster Kingsway, Bournemouth and University of West London, and their opposite numbers in France at Grasse, Menton, Toulon and Sophie Pic colleges.

The English and French students were paired together and tasked with preparing and cooking classic Escoffier inspired dishes.

The event was presided over by Michel Escoffier, Chairman of the Escoffier Foundation and great-grandson of Auguste Escoffier. The judges for the competition were Richard Phillips, Graham Garrett and Andy McLeish.

Rob Allsworth, Chef Lecturer at East Kent College and the host for the event, said: “Once again the competition successfully brought together the leading students from our two countries and provided them with the latest culinary equipment and the freshest ingredients from Kent to demonstrate their own passion and inventiveness for cookery.”

The students prepared their own interpretation on the Escoffier inspired dishes of Sole Daumont, using Dover Sole, and Rice Condé, an enriched vanilla rice dish incorporating a contemporary garnish showcasing Kentish apples and rhubarb.

Graham Razey, Principal of East Kent College, said: “It was a pleasure to host the competition, which reinforces the reputation of the college as one of the country’s best places to study for a career in professional cookery.”