At the beginning of 2105, 17 year old catering student James Ganderton could not have foreseen the life changing career opportunity ahead of him. At the time he was studying at Loughborough College in Leicestershire, living at home.
Less than a year on, and the winner of the prestigious Teflon Diamond Standards Awards 2015, James has now taken up his prize and embarked on the first year of a three year Specialised Chefs Scholarship, run in conjunction with the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts and Bournemouth & Poole College.
It has been a rapid transformation, and one that James has embraced, learning new skills and rising to new challenges that very few young men of his age in the industry have experienced.
Having completed his first term at Bournemouth & Poole under the eagle eye of renowned RACA Member David Boland, James is now living independently in Hampshire, with a placement at the renowned and award winning Chewton Glen Hotel. He is thriving in this esteemed and professional environment as an apprentice and dreams of a future running his own 30 cover fine dining establishment, using produce from his own small holding and the surrounding area.
I believe that there should be a lot of passion within them and with the products they are using. Also the desire to learn and take in as much as they can to improve themselves.
I think that, to be an elite chef, you need to have good knife skills, works in a clean tidy manner and have a professional way about them. Also the will to learn and grab every opportunity with both hands.
A good understanding of ingredients, also the ability to listen well and follow instructions. The ability to create a good balanced dish which looks good but also tastes good. They must have a good knowledge of food pairings within their dish.
I studied at Loughborough College doing my level 2 and 3 diploma in hospitality and catering
I have grown up with cooking. My entire family love cooking and I used to enjoy going to my Gran and Gramp’s house where Gran would cook us a great lunch and the majority of the vegetables were from my Gramp’s vegetable patch. Another moment I will never forget was when I was on holiday in the Isle of Wight when my Uncle and my Dad went sea fishing and caught several mackerel.We took the fish home to the campsite, gutted them, prepped them and sold them to the other people on the campsite. A lot of drive and passion has come from my college lecturers and they are the ones that have helped me to achieve the position I am in today.
My proudest moment is winning the Teflon™ DSA competition.
Garlic - it is a main ingredient in many dishes and there are so many different varieties.
My chefs knife
I believe a lot more people will attempt to become self sufficient, growing a lot more by themselves while also using more local produce. I could be completely wrong!
I love game and I am a big fan of wild boar, venison, hare and pigeon.