Shrewsbury College invited in a Shropshire –based Michelin starred restaurant owner and chef to give Hospitality & Catering students a master class in producing award winning cuisine.

Chris Bradley, owner of the Michelin starred restaurant, Mr Underhill’s, in Ludlow, volunteered his spare time to spend the afternoon conducting the workshop, as well as donating all the ingredients used ahead of the gala dinner opening of the College’s new restaurant Origins on Friday.

Mr Bradley produced both a Mushroom and a Haddock Risotto for the students, who spent the remainder of the afternoon in groups making their own versions of this dish.

He said: ‘I brought in a variety of ingredients ranging dramatically in price. I wanted the three groups to use the different priced food, as an experiment to see whether or not a difference in price resulted in a difference in the quality of food

“I am hugely impressed with the quality of food. The students have worked really hard.”

Sarah Dillow, 18, is Level 2 Diploma in Professional Cookery student from Shrewsbury said: ‘’Having a guest Chef come and do a master class for us is a great experience and as I enjoy the practical aspect of the course the most, these workshops are good ways for me to develop my hands-on skills.”

Jonathon Hellard, aged 19 also Shrewsbury and on the same course, said: ‘’I think it’s brilliant to take part in something that we wouldn’t normally do. Being shown how to cook dishes from award winning Chef’s such as Mr Bradley is always a rewarding experience.”

Hospitality & Catering students are benefitting from the multi-million pound re-development of the department, which included three new state-of-the-art training kitchens and the new commercial restaurant, Origins.

The afternoon was arranged in conjunction with the gala grand opening of Origins, as a thank you to the students for their hard work over the past few months.

Senior Chef Lecturer at Shrewsbury College, Sean McNulty, said: “The afternoon was a great success. It has been very enjoyable and interesting, as well as a great opportunity for the students to meet a renowned chef and to receive good feedback from the only Michelin-starred Chef in Shropshire

‘’I would like to thank Chris Bradley for spending the afternoon with us.”

For more information about the Hospitality & Catering course please call 01743 342333 or click here.