Students impress at Dolmio and Uncle Ben’s Professional competition at HRC

Dominykas Salvaitis, a student chef at the University of West London was awarded with the Best Free-From, World Food Menu for his efforts in the Dolmio Professional and Uncle Ben’s Professional Foodservice Student Catering Challenge held at HRC at ExCel last week.

The final eight students in the competition were tasked with preparing, cooking and serving two globally inspired, free-from dishes within 60 minutes.

Head judge, chef Cyrus Todiwala, commented: “The level of student entries has been fantastic, particularly given the challenging and on trend ‘Free-From World Food’ brief. It’s superb to see these students cooking so professionally, particularly given that they were faced with the daunting task of cooking on a big-stage in front of a knowledgeable audience.”

“Salvaitis particularly stood out, not least because of his professionalism and creativity, but for his outstanding skill. He had brilliant technique and wasn’t afraid to take on challenging dishes – he was very gutsy!”

Salvaitis served up two Indian inspired Vegetarian/Gluten-Free dishes - Dholka & Lentil Stew’ for main course and ‘Steamed Szechuan Patoli’ for dessert - which were created with Uncle Ben’s Professional Basmati Rice and Szechuan, Tikka Masala, Arrabita and Black Bean ready-to-use sauces.

He said: “To win the Dolmio Professional & Uncle Ben’s Professional Foodservice Student Catering Challenge feels amazing, particularly having seen the amazing standard of dishes that all of the other finalists served up!”

Anirudh Gosain from University College Birmingham, was the winner of the ‘Best Main Course’