Pastry Diploma
A pastry diploma is not any old diploma that you can pick up at night school. The position of pâtissier is a highly skilled job and to achieve that position with a pastry diploma a pastry chef has had to put in many hours of study and hard work. Pastry diplomas can only be taken at a few selected catering colleges, many of which are in France and Canada. But the Prue Leith Diploma Course, recognized throughout the hospitality and catering industry the world over, includes a large section that is entirely made up of the various sub headings that fall under patisserie.
The Prue Leith Diploma Course can be taken at the Prue Leith College of Food and Wine, which can be found in a quiet suburb of Centurion in the grounds of the old Lyttleton Manor House. The eighteen-month long Diploma Course starts twice a year in January and June and lasts for three six-month semesters. Up to 120 students may be enrolled at the college at any one time split into three courses. After filling in an application form, which can be found on the Prue Leith web site, students may be invited to attend an interview, provided that they have met the minimum requirements, namely that they have reached eighteen years of age and have achieved at least a standard grade pass at Matric. When attending the interview they are required to fill in a questionnaire.
The Diploma Course Content is extremely comprehensive and includes such subjects as table decorating, flower arranging and cake icing. The main food headings covered are Entremetier, Saucier & Rotisseur, Poissonier, Farinaceous, Garde-manger and Patisserie.
Pastry falls under Patisserie in the Diploma Course. Students learn about the responsibilities of a pastry chef, whose duties can include menu planning, costing, and ordering. The pastry chef normally prepares desserts in advance, whereas the actual plating is done by the Garde-manger. Students at the college usually find themselves working in the college’s own restaurant, Prue Leith’s, from as early as their second week. This is because one of the college’s beliefs is that academic knowledge should be put into practice as soon as possible by extensive exposure to the working place. Students occupy every position in the restaurant with the exception of Restaurant Manager.
Students get even more exposure to the working place in their third semester, when they are placed in selected first rate hotels, restaurants and game lodges throughout South Africa and as distant as Ireland and the Middle East. While there they occupy many of the positions they have learned about in college and get excellent first hand experience.
Back at the college students have the opportunity of joining an optional tour of the Cape wine lands, backing up the Cape Wine Academy Certificate course, which they are required to complete during their second semester. By the time they graduate, students will have covered all the subjects from Food sanitation to pastry, and armed with the Prue Leith Diploma are ready for the challenges of the catering industry.
