SERC College Success at IFEX Culinary Competitions

IFEX is Northern Ireland’s largest industry showcase of the latest products in food and drink, interiors, catering equipment, technology and services. As part of the exhibition, the ChefSkills Live Theatre competitions are held to demonstrate and reward culinary talent. SERC entered several competition categories and achieved success in all of them.  

The SERC successes: SERC students and tutor Brain Magill won Gold Medal and Best in Class Cup in the Street Food International category; student Darren Adams won Gold in the Northern Ireland Culinary Ability Awards; student Conor Burns won Gold in both Student Culinarian of the Year 2022 and IFEX Young Chef of the Year 2022; nd student Joanne Barlow and tutor Ruth Doherty won Gold in the Decorative Exhibit category. SERC students and tutors also collectively won six Silver Medals, six Bronze Medals and eight Certificates of Merit/ Participation across different categories. SERC student Niamh Quinn also created a gold standard chocolate showpiece sculpture but was unfortunately unable to participate with her creation on the day.   

Of her showpiece sculpture, Confectionery and Patisserie student Joanne Barlow said, "I'd wanted to do a chocolate showpiece that incorporated my passion for flying, combining the baking with aviation. But it also had a link to my family history: my grandfather's uncle carved a Wellington bomber out of wood whilst he was in the RAF as a test pilot in the war. He then passed this down to my grandfather who then passed it onto my father and then onto me. So, I sculpted the Wellington bomber and Spitfire out of chocolate to place on the stand and a poppy in remembrance of my grandfather's uncle!" 

Commenting on the Street Food International win, Paul Mercer, SERC Deputy Head of School – Hospitality, Management and Catering, said “We were competing against two other colleges in Northern Ireland and SERC won gold. This is the third consecutive contest where we have won gold for street food. One of the judges said that we didn’t just produce street food, but street food and a dining experience. Our students' street food expertise was developed on the enterprise food truck SERC uses to help students practise their skills in a practical setting.”   

Caption: Students from Downpatrick Campus pictured at SERC's Excellence Awards in Downpatrick Campus following wins at IFEX 2022. More photos of our winning IFEX students to follow - watch this space.

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