Prue Leith College
The word “vegetarian” came into being with the founding of the Vegetarian Society in 1847, but it is a misconception that the word came into being because members of the society only ate vegetables. In fact, they made up the word from the Latin word vegetus meaning “lively”, because their diet made them feel that way. There are a great many more self-declared vegetarians going about in the world today, and catering establishments have come to realise this. Young chefs learn about vegetarian cooking at college these days so that they are prepared for the demands they will encounter after graduation. One such college that includes vegetarian cooking in its diploma course curriculum is the Prue Leith College of Food and Wine. Situated in Centurion, this college has had vegetarian cooking as a whole section in the content of its diploma course.
Tiny Barnetson and Graham Ledger founded the Prue Leith College in 1996 after identifying a niche in the requirements of many of South Africa’s catering establishments. Following the lifting of economic sanctions there was a great increase in the number of foreign tourists visiting the country and inevitably there followed a shortage of reliable and highly motivated catering staff, particularly in the restaurants, hotels and game lodges. The aim of the college is to train young professionals for this market. The trustees of the college believe that what the average tourist to South Africa wants is simple food of outstanding quality that has a local flavour. To this end the college’s own on-site restaurant, Prue Leith’s, specialises in dishes freshly made from South African produce. Vegetarian cooking is always included in the college’s restaurant.
The fundamental thinking of the college is that students should put into practice that which they have learned in the classroom as soon as possible in order to keep hold of that knowledge. To this end both theoretical and practical training in the classroom is backed up by extensive contact with the realities of the workplace, in this case in the Prue Leith Restaurant and in Prue Leith Catering, another offshoot of the college. Students from the college work in the hot and cold kitchens of both establishments, preparing all meals including vegetarian cooking learned in the college. They also man the different departments as well as Front of House, Maître d’Hotel and Wine Steward.
Students at the Prue Leith College have an excellent academic training in the various culinary departments that make up a professional kitchen. So much so that they are expected to be at the top of their field within a few years of graduation. The college course includes local dishes, vegetarian cooking, and international dishes as well as finance and management, professional ethics and the like. During their final semester students are placed out in five star restaurants to work under professional chefs for a two-month period. This further exposes them to the disciplines and responsibilities of an unfamiliar workplace, making them all-the-more ready for the days after their graduation.
