Pidy has named the eight finalists of its ‘Revamp the Vol-au-vent’ student challenge.

Entries were paper-judged by a panel, and the eight finalists will now compete in the live cook-off final on Friday 7 December at the Claire Clark Academy at Milton Keynes College.

Finalists will have one hour to demonstrate their culinary skills using one of the three best-selling Pidy vol-au-vents. The dish has to be a canapé, a starter, a main course or a dessert with a street food theme. The creations will be judged by an expert panel, including Claire Clark and last year’s winner, Marian Tandy from the University of West London.

Robert Whittle, general manager at Pidy UK, said he has been impressed with the standard of entries this year and is looking forward to the live final.  

“It’s great to see the momentum continue to grow this year and we were really impressed by every entry received, which made narrowing down eight finalists extremely challenging,” Whittle said.

“The students have really taken the brief on board and pushed their creative and culinary abilities to the max. I’m looking forward to the final and seeing first-hand how the students create their innovative street food inspired vol-au-vents!”

The 2018 finalists are: 

  • Catherine Worley, North Hertfordshire College
  • Nicole Watt, North Hertfordshire College
  • William Sowden, Selby College
  • Kieran Rudolph, Loughborough College
  • Rachel Able, London Geller College of Hospitality & Tourism, University of West London
  • Jihyeon Noh, London Geller College of Hospitality & Tourism, University of West London
  • Jaymie Phow, London Geller College of Hospitality & Tourism, University of West London
  • Chloe Hammond, Milton Keynes College

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