Lesson 1
On the enrollment day I was told that the first lesson would have just been an introduction to the course and meet the tutor in a classroom.
Lessons for the NVQ2 (or ABC Level 2 - which is the same thing) are usually from 5.30pm to 8.30pm.
There is a student car park at the back of Saint Mary's road and they charge £5 to keep your car there from 3.30pm. If you get the tube there is a free shuttle that takes you straight into the University - or at least this is what my Uni colleagues told me, as I have always driven to Uni and never taken the train.
West London University is quite big and divided in few blocks, so when I got there I asked the security guy at the entrance to give me some direction to the classroom for the NVQ2 in Patisserie.
I finally got the classroom and met my kitchen colleagues ad my tutor for the first time.
The tutor is younger than I expected (she's in her early 30's) but still she has got over 10 years of experience in the industry - she even worked for Gordon Ramsay and the amazing Raymond Blanc!! That was really cool to know :)
She told us that the course is divided into 4 modules:
1. Pastry
2. Cakes and biscuits
3. Bread and other fermented goods
4. Cold and hot desserts
Also she told us that all lessons are practical - apart from four theory lessons - and no one is allowed to work in the kitchen without chef whites (the chef uniform).
The recommended book for our theory lessons is 'Practical Cookery' by David Foskett who is a teacher at this very university. I bought my new book on Amazon.
We were asked to buy the following to wear from lesson 2 onwards:
1. Chef jacket
2. Apron
3. Black trousers
4. Black safety shoes
5. Hat
You can buy any uniform you want as long as the trousers and shoes are black - the teacher is really strict on that! I bough all my chef whites on Amazon - it worked out fairly cheap and they are good quality too.
Below are links from Amazon where I bought my items from, I hope you find it helpful.
Some other items I would strongly recommend you to buy for when you start working in the kitchen are:
1. Knives (chef is not too keen to hand out her own knives so you're allowed to bring your own)
2. A small electric scale (there are three scales in the entire kitchen and when you have to weigh the ingredients to start the lesson there is always a long waiting queue - bring your own if you can. You can buy very cheap electric scales from Amazon).
At the end of the introductory lesson we were finally shown the kitchen! ...even if for just a minute.
I was so excited and couldn't wait to start working in a professional kitchen the following Thursday, for the first time! :)
Lessons for the NVQ2 (or ABC Level 2 - which is the same thing) are usually from 5.30pm to 8.30pm.
There is a student car park at the back of Saint Mary's road and they charge £5 to keep your car there from 3.30pm. If you get the tube there is a free shuttle that takes you straight into the University - or at least this is what my Uni colleagues told me, as I have always driven to Uni and never taken the train.
West London University is quite big and divided in few blocks, so when I got there I asked the security guy at the entrance to give me some direction to the classroom for the NVQ2 in Patisserie.
I finally got the classroom and met my kitchen colleagues ad my tutor for the first time.
The tutor is younger than I expected (she's in her early 30's) but still she has got over 10 years of experience in the industry - she even worked for Gordon Ramsay and the amazing Raymond Blanc!! That was really cool to know :)
She told us that the course is divided into 4 modules:
1. Pastry
2. Cakes and biscuits
3. Bread and other fermented goods
4. Cold and hot desserts
Also she told us that all lessons are practical - apart from four theory lessons - and no one is allowed to work in the kitchen without chef whites (the chef uniform).
The recommended book for our theory lessons is 'Practical Cookery' by David Foskett who is a teacher at this very university. I bought my new book on Amazon.
We were asked to buy the following to wear from lesson 2 onwards:
1. Chef jacket
2. Apron
3. Black trousers
4. Black safety shoes
5. Hat
You can buy any uniform you want as long as the trousers and shoes are black - the teacher is really strict on that! I bough all my chef whites on Amazon - it worked out fairly cheap and they are good quality too.
Below are links from Amazon where I bought my items from, I hope you find it helpful.
Some other items I would strongly recommend you to buy for when you start working in the kitchen are:
1. Knives (chef is not too keen to hand out her own knives so you're allowed to bring your own)
2. A small electric scale (there are three scales in the entire kitchen and when you have to weigh the ingredients to start the lesson there is always a long waiting queue - bring your own if you can. You can buy very cheap electric scales from Amazon).
At the end of the introductory lesson we were finally shown the kitchen! ...even if for just a minute.
I was so excited and couldn't wait to start working in a professional kitchen the following Thursday, for the first time! :)
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