The Diploma goes online.

The students of the Diploma and Advanced Diploma completed their first class utilising the online delivery software. It was a great success with the students registering a strong vote of approval for the content and the style of delivery.In another first one of the students used her camera phone to record the moment and then sent the image to my email account,thats the image you see above. As the students were heard to say ( in jest of course) that is "fully sick"! It was a great day and reinforces in my mind the potential of online delivery to not only provide an interesting and varied platform for content delivery but also one that allows the students to engage and contribute to the content. Well done people 12 out of 10!

Hospital Corners at The Citigate Sebel Waterfront Resort

Ahh, hospital corners, a bed so tight you can bounce a coin on it! Here are some of the Diploma students in a collage of housekeeping activity this Monday past. The students are lucky enough to be able to undertake this activity at the The Citigate Sebel Waterfront Resort at The Entrance. More images are available here as well. The Resort has 145 rooms in a wonderful waterfront location at The Entrance,NSW. Teacher Ann McClintock has extensive experience in hotels and motels and a true passion for her work:she keeps a helpful eye on the students progress. Tuition in this part of the course ranges from practical activities like stain removal, to electronic reservation systems and the preparation of quotations for function groups. Real skills, real life environment.

Latest pictures

Here are some pictures that give you some idea of the atmosphere in the Cookery classes at Ourimbah. As you can see the kitchen is well appointed and the students seem to be having a good time as well. having a cookery component in the Diploma course exposes students to the workings of the Catering side of a hospitality business so that they can make good judgements as to it's workings even if it not sometimes their favorite area of operations.Looks like fun to me.

A bit of healthy competition

OK Bloggers battle has been engaged. Head teacher Knut Hooge has insisted I set him up with a blog of his own called ourimbah chefs
He has some lovely pictures of the dishes created by a student on their first night cooking for the restaurant and hopes to include industry links and other goodies as time progresses. Well done Knut. I am sure he would like some feedback so leave a comment for him.

A lesson in fresh pasta

A couple of new photos for you to look at here from Thursday night's class. Leo was showing them how to set up for the restaurant and making some fresh pasta into the bargain. The results look excellent especially the Minestrone. Note the attention to detail the evenness of the croutons and the clarity of the stock.

Does a season in the Greek Islands sound nice?

Daniel Hooge thought so.Daniel completed his Advanced Diploma at the Central Coast Campus in 2004 and promptly packed his bags. Since heading off he has squeezed in a season in the Snowy Mountains last year, flown to Fiji for a taste of the tropics and then on to Canada for a season in the Rockies "Big White" sky resort. In March this year he flew to Ireland to work for a few months in his mother's ancestral hometown of Waterford, before moving on to work in the Greek Isles for the European summer. Daniel plans to secure a position in the Austrian alps for the winter season and after that who knows! Daniel it sounds like a tough life to me! Any diploma student whose goal is to travel take note. It can be done, Daniel has shown you how.

Matt Clark and Precision.

Here is student Matt Clark producing what looks like some highly acceptable julienne of celery for use as a garnish in a consomme' they were producing in a recent cookery class. The question students often ask is why learn to do this if it is so rarely used these days. The answer I would say is to understand the precision involved in creating really fine food and to transfer those skills to whatever dish or ingredient you may be preparing. Matt himself is an all round sportsman who has travelled to South Africa playing Rugby League played representative Rugby and is also an excellent cricketer.

Kitchen confidential

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the first of the students work in the kitchens at Central Coast Campus. Nice to see a touch of rareness in the meat even as the students are training. Well done David Little.

Leo Gerrets: Nice.. and.. Easy..!!

Leo Gerrets Master chef, real individual, stirrer, and committed educator was discovered some time ago by the ABC radio network.

His weekly radio broadcasts have covered emulsion sauces,classic steak dishes and exotic vinegars. Leo has been a baker and a chef with his own restaurant for many years, and there is very little he doesnt know about the food industry and he loves to share it with students - especially those who are ready to learn. If there is something he doesnt know he will find out. Apparently he has the sort of shed in his backyard that most of us dream about.From this shed a constant stream of moulds for chocolate stainless steel 'doovers' for shaping tuiles or other specialties appear. Leo we need some pictures of your shed and your gadgets! His office at TAFE has an amazing range of these gadgets shaped from stainless steel perpex or moulding rubber.And he does it because he loves it. I reckon he should do a food related version of the popular ABC program "the woodies" but called "Leo's shed". Leo on the ABC: Nice and easy

Welcome to our new site

Welcome to the new Hospitality Management site for the students of the Central Coast Campus. On this site we are planning to post the weekly achievements of our students including meals they have produced, cocktails they have made, tables they have laid, skills they have learned maybe even some of the blunders we all make when we are learning (as long as the students are OK with this). Our students have a lot to offer potential employers and this will give us a chance to showcase their skills and some of the challenges they face to achieve their qualifications.There is not much here yet but over the coming weeks you will start to see the progress our students are making. I hope you like our layout and hope to see you back here soon to catch up on our progress.
Cheers,
Peter