Young chefs’ academy Pretoria
Very few people realize that there is a young chefs’ academy in Pretoria, but hidden away in the Centurion suburb of Hennopspark is the Prue Leith College of Food and Wine. The young chefs’ academy is centrally located in the grounds of the old Manor House of Lyttleton, Pretoria. The college is the only chefs’ college in South Africa that has both an award winning fine dining restaurant and a fully equipped demonstration kitchen on the property. Along with Prue Leith’s Restaurant and Prue Leith Catering, the college makes up the Prue Leith Group. The Patron of the Prue Leith Group is Prue Leith OBE. Prue is an internationally renowned culinary expert in the restaurant and catering field. She was born in South Africa and studied at the University of Cape Town. Shortly after graduating, she left for Europe where she became a household name and was awarded an OBE for the contribution she made to the food industry in the United Kingdom.
The Prue Leith College of Food and Wine offers a Diploma course for young would-be chefs. The course lasts for eighteen months over three six-month semesters. The Prue Leith Diploma is a recognized achievement all over the world. Subjects covered by the course include the entire range of culinary disciplines, and are backed up by some extensive exposure to the realities of the workplace by placing students in the work environment from the very start of the course. To get into the college you will need to have passed your Matric exam and have reached eighteen. On top of that there is an interview and a comprehensive questionnaire.
The college was started up in 1996 after it was realized that there was a shortage of well-motivated and expert staff in South Africa’s catering industry at the time. This had come about with the upsurge of foreign tourists entering the country after economic sanctions had been lifted following democratization. The aim of the college is to train professionals for this very market. It was believed that the foreign tourist and South African traveler alike wanted a taste of simple food that was of excellent quality. The restaurant specializes in freshly made dishes made from South African produce.
Students not only take on all of the jobs in the restaurant (with the exception of Restaurant Manager) but also spend six months of the course seconded out to other fine catering establishments throughout South Africa and the rest of the world, thus becoming exposed to the realities of the workplace. Back at the young chefs’ academy in Pretoria they are learning about the fine art of bush cooking and other pan African cooking in the 24-seat college boma. In the catering company they will gain valuable experience working in the company’s kitchens – these are a couple of kilometres from the college – and will be working at the respective catering venues, be they wedding receptions, dinners etc. Into all of this throw in the Cape Wine Academy Certificate course and at graduation you have a young chef with a background experience second to none.
