Celebrity chef Sophie Wright has visited the City of Bath College to encourage catering students to cook up something special with venison.
The chef, who is known as one of the rising stars of cuisine, delivered a masterclass as part of a one-day workshop to promote cooking with venison.
More than 30 Catering and Hospitality students listened to Sophie talking about the “delicious and nutritious benefits” of farm-raised venison.
She then gave several cooking demonstrations to inspire the students to eat and cook venison, which she describes as “a culinary treat.”
Sophie said: “I can remember feeling inspired by visiting chefs at college so I wanted to reach out to students at Bath.
“I wanted to offer inspiration to chefs of the future. These students will soon be going out there to work as chefs and could end up anywhere in the world.
“It’s a hard and challenging time for graduates to find work so I’m happy to do whatever I can to help.”
She added: “It’s great to be able to inspire students and push them in the right direction. It’s always lovely to see young students so enthusiastic about cooking.”
Sophie’s love of venison began in 2006 when she won the New Zealand/UK Culinary Challenge. Her prize was a 10-week trip to New Zealand to learn about the cuisine.
She explained to students that the price of venison was increasing due to its new popularity but cheaper cuts of the red meat could be used for casseroles and curries.
Sophie said: “Many people have the wrong idea about venison and that’s why it’s had a bit of a bad reputation.
“When people hear venison they think of wild venison rather than farmed venison. They don’t even try it as they think it’s too gamey and the flavor is too strong. My advice to the students was to get out there, cook it and tell others to eat it!”
She added: “It may be a red meat but it’s a very healthy protein that’s very high in iron and low in fat.”
Sophie has a large number of achievements to her credit. She is a well-established cookery author and makes frequent appearances on TV, including Great Food Live, Daily Cooks and Food Poker.
She grew up and went to school in the East End of London and went on to become the highest achieving competition chef at Westminster Kingsway College. She left college in 2006 with distinctions all round and as an active member of the Culinary British Academy, stacking up over 20 gold medals nationally and internationally.
At the age of 20 she became one of the country’s youngest head chefs at celebrity hangout ‘Beach Blanket Babylon’ and now runs Sophie Wright Catering which specialises in dinner parties. She has catered for big names such as film star Leonardo DiCaprio and designer Tom Ford.
The one-day workshop at City of Bath College was organised by Ian Damms at Deer Industry New Zealand.
Catering lecturer Alan Baxter said the annual venison workshop had been a success and an eye-opener for many students.
He said: “The students have been amazed at what they have seen and been told, they have learned so much.
“They have been shown a great selection of recipes and now have lots of new skills and knowledge to put into practice.”
