June 2015

Culinary magic: UCB students turn leftovers into tasty finger food

Read time: approx 1 mins

Students worked some culinary magic turning waste food into bite-sized treats for a money-saving cooking challenge. 

Undergraduates on courses including Culinary Arts Management and Food and Consumer Management took part in the “Love Food, Hate Waste” UCB Student Challenge 2015. 

The students had to compile a range of sweet and savoury products using typical leftover ingredients such as mashed potatoes, cooked chicken and over-ripe fruit. They had to consider flavour, texture, colour, aroma and overall eating quality. 

Bite-sized treats included vegetarian mini croquettes, beef chilli and rice with potato skins, mini lemonade and strawberry trifles, and banana cake pops. 

Representatives from Central England Co-operative and UCB judged the students’ efforts, checking for the use of ingredients, creative flair, originality and attention to detail. 

The winner was Sumaiyah Patel, a third year Culinary Arts Management student. Sumaiyah will receive a trophy at a “cook-off” event at UCB called “Taste It, Don’t Waste It,” hosted by celebrity chef Brian Turner later this month. 

Sumaiyah, along with competition runners-up Ezen Teoh and Amy-Louise Owen, will serve their products at this high-profile event to showcase their culinary talent and passion for reducing food waste.

 Sumaiyah’s finger food included:

  • Spicy beef croquettes
  • Ham rösti with caramelised onions
  • Chicken and mushroom pakoras
  • Banana cake and candied bacon
  • Rice pudding fritters
  • Lemonade jelly sweets

 Bernhard Schumacher, senior lecturer at UCB, said: “The heat was definitely on. The students stayed very calm under pressure and came up with some great finger food. The level of creativity was just amazing.” 

“Love Food, Hate Waste” is an initiative created by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to raise awareness of the need to reduce food waste and enable the public and food industry to take action. 

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