Twelve budding chefs were recently inducted into the Young Culinary Talent (YOCUTA) Hall of Fame by Nestlé Jamaica Limited under a skills development programme that had taken a hiatus because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The 12 chefs, between ages 17 and 29, were nominated to be a part of the YOCUTA initiative that provided a series of specialised coaching sessions for their training, development, and professional projection, Nestlé said in a news release.

The YOCUTA programme is geared at providing young culinary students with theoretical and practical cooking experience to prepare themselves for work in the hospitality industry.

It enhances their culinary skills, knowledge, good practices and helps them observe new trends. A few areas that were covered under the curriculum included chef professionalism, nutrition, health and wealth of the individual, the chef’s role in the industry, knife skills, safety, and sanitation.

The students were selected from the HEART/NSTA Trust and the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.

Nestlé’s Human Resource Department provided each student CV writing tips, and the do’s and don’ts of an interview after which each participant had the opportunity to create and revamp their résumé.

Additionally, each student participated in a mock interview session with a chef in the industry as well and as member of Nestlé’s management team to put what they have learnt into action and prepare them for real-life job-hunting scenarios.

The three-week Nestlé Professional-led YOCUTA programme also exposed the young talents to a wealth of knowledge and practical experience under the guidance and mentorship of experienced chefs, including Terri-Ann Brown, Volae Williams, Alex D’ Great, Natasha Kangaloo and others.

At the end of the internship each student received a knife bag consisting of an eight-inch chef knife and boning knife, a chef jacket, chef hat, and an apron as tools to kick-start their culinary career.

“The programme has eight modules — five theoretical and three practicals,” the release quotes Nestlé food and beverage manager for Nestlé Professional Andrew Bent.

“The first module includes interactive work sessions: introduction to the entire service industry and the world of food and beverages; basic knowledge of nutrition, health and well-being; training to develop a résumé and succeed in a job interview and live cooking experience with a recognised top chef. The young chefs loved it and they were participatory from start to finish,” Bent said.

He shared that there are plans to expand the students’ knowledge through additional pillars. “These pillars will focus on the Nestlé portfolio, sweet and savoury food preparation. The students will have the opportunity to practice professionally through commercial activities and gastronomic development of Nestlé Professional over the course of the next year,” Bent said.

Richard Warren, programme director, food and beverage management and lecturer at UTech, was pleased with the programme.

“The main benefit the students gained from attending the programme was through the culinary professionals presentations, which allowed them to see, more than anything else, that the culinary field was wide and not only limited to the kitchen,” he said.

“Other benefits gained from the programme were the opportunity to socialise with other persons from other entities through networking, and the opportunity to practice public speaking. Both opportunities helped the students in developing their self-confidence,” he added.

“The students believed that the practical aspect of the programme provided the best experience, and the element of surprise injected added more excitement to the activities,” Bent said.

Executive human resource manager at Tourism Product Development Company, Erica Brown-Whittingham, through an engaging presentation showed the students the importance the YOCUTA programme to Jamaica’s tourism sector.