Evesham Based Cookery School Wins Cookery School Of The Year At Top Industry Awards

Orchards Cookery scooped the top award at the 2013 British Cookery School Awards on Monday night, 11th November, being voted Cookery School of the Year.

The Evesham-based cookery school which specialises in training and recruiting Chalet Cooks as well as running a range of specific courses including Off to University courses, Designer Dinner party courses and Corporate Days also won the Best English Cookery School category.

The event took place at the Vintners’ Company in the heart of the City of London, hosted by BBC Radio 2’s food and drink broadcaster Nigel Barden.

Cookery school professionals from across the country turned out to see the prestigious awards presented to an array of exceptional schools.  Bettys Cookery School and The Artisan Cookery School collected trophies for the Best Large Recreational and Best Large Professional Cookery Schools.  Edinburgh School of Food and Wine was awarded Best Scottish Cookery School and The Chef’s Room Fish & Cookery School won Best Welsh Cookery School.

The award for Best Small Cookery School went to The Cooking School at Dean Clough and The Bertinet Kitchen won the Best Specialist category.  Winner of the Best Use of Local Produce went to The Wellbeing Farm from Bolton in Lancashire and Central Street Cookery School, a unique charity-run cookery school that provides an affordable facility for the whole community to cook together won the Best Community Engagement honour.

The awards also acknowledged individual stars of the cookery school world with Peter Lien of the WI Cookery School picking up the awards for Best Tutor, Jamie Foy of the Weber Grill Academy winning Best Rising Star and Anna Morton of Lucy Cooks Cookery School picked up the Best Unsung Hero award for outstanding accomplishments behind the scenes.

While the core 13 categories of the British Cookery School Awards were voted for by the judging panel – Nigel Barden, foodie aficionado and BBC food and drink broadcaster, Xanthe Clay, Telegraph food writer and Guy Lincoln, Senior Lecturer at Leeds Metropolitan University’s Centre of Hospitality and Retailing Management – the British public were asked to nominate their favourite cookery school.  The title of People’s Choice: Britain’s Favourite Cookery School went to Ashburton Cookery School in the large category and Cookies Cooking School in the small category.

With more than 400 cookery schools now operating in the UK, The British Cookery School Awards – sponsored by Kenwood, Analon and Premier Foods – honour all those excellent cookery schools that go above and beyond to deliver a first class cookery school experience.  The awards aim to celebrate the important role that cookery schools play in driving Britain’s passion for cooking good, homemade food.

Head judge Nigel Barden, said: “It has been a joy to be involved with the British Cookery School Awards, now in their second year.  The number and quality of entries were exceptional and the different styles of school reflect the ethnically diverse make up of modern Britain.  Also, the involvement in community has ensured that many establishments have a major effect on local academic schools and in conjunction with community centres, have also introduced many children and their parents to cooking.  These are life enhancing skills that build bonds within families.”