Combat Cooking
Harlow College Catering students got a taste of combat cooking when members of 167 Catering Support Regiment RLC dropped by to demonstrate their skills. Also attending were specially invited students from Chelmsford College.
This was made possible as a result of a visit last year when the Regiment gave a presentation to students, which has since led to an ongoing collaboration with The Army.
During the event students created dishes using 10-man ration packs, just as the Army would in a combat zone, in the College's skills kitchen. Students used just a few basic commodities like celeries, turnips, onions, garlic and leeks.
Along with their ration packs the army brought along a one-man pop-up kitchen, which is used all over world and can be used to cook for anything up to a hundred people.
Senior tutor in Catering, Stuart Smith said: "The Army Catering Regiment are looking at using Harlow College as part of a pilot scheme next year, to bring in army personnel that specialise in culinary competitions all around the country to train up students and allow them to compete in those regionally and nationally. Our students really loved the day – they learnt a lot and some of them have said they'd like to join the Army catering Corps in the future."
Sergeant Deano Bowaro from 167 Catering Support Regiment, based in Grantham, said:
"Some of the students I've seen in action today are really keen individuals who could possibly apply to join us in the future.
"They've been interested to see how different our catering department is and what you can produce with a very limited kit. I've also been impressed with the catering facilities here at Harlow College. It's a really nice setup."
Catering VRQ Level 3 student, Corey Gleed said of the day:
"It's been really good, I've really enjoyed it and I would like to go into the Army Catering Corp.
"I enjoyed seeing the cooking demo in the pop-up kitchen. It was good to see what it's like cooking with limited rations and looking at the kitchen itself was really interesting."