Excellence award for Blacklion student at World Skills event

A Blacklion culinary arts student has achieved a medallion of excellence at the World Skills competition in France.

Alanna Moffitt competed in the four-day competition, which took place in Lyon last week.

The fourth year Technological University Dublin student had just returned home on Monday evening when she spoke to the Celt about her experience.

Alanna said she felt “wrecked” but added that the experience was “really enjoyable".

The 21 year old gave a taste of what she served up over the course of the competition, with dishes ranging from gnocchi onion soup, a duck dish, fig chutney, hot choux pastry, brioche bread, duck pate, beef and fish dishes, crepes and French toast.

“Over the four days, we did 22 hours, we were up most mornings probably at about 5:30am.

“It was very long and tiring but it was a really good experience, once you got into the swing of things you didn’t even notice the times,” she described.

The cookery category was broken up into four different sections, hot kitchen “which is quite fine dining” and cold kitchen, which involved making cakes and breads and decorating. On the third day, the competition moved to bistro, which interlinked with competitors in the restaurant service class.

“You had the morning to prepare and then you’d serve food to guests... Restaurant service would take the food we created and serve it to customers in a bar area.

“That was good,” she said.

The final day of the competition was a skills test. She was judged on factors such as hygiene, presentation, how she conducted herself in the kitchen, timing, taste and organisation.

“It’s quite complex,” she said.

Alanna was awarded a medallion of excellence for her performance.

“It’s anyone who reached a certain level of excellence, so I got one for cookery.

“If you get enough points or if they think you’re good enough you get a medallion, so I got one of those.

Hailing from a farming background, Alanna said she has been interested in cookery since she was young.

“Since I was small I’ve always been stuck in a kitchen somewhere.

“I was always growing up with food and animals.”

She has always “really liked food” and loved her home economics class while she was a student in St Clare's Comprehensive School in Manorhamilton.

Alanna’s first part time job was working in a kitchen alongside Neven Maguire, which she said influenced her career aspirations.

“I started working in a kitchen when I was sixteen so since then.

“I’m working there over the last few years, it’s great.

"Neven’s a great inspiration and all the team in there.

“They’re really supportive and really helping with my training especially.

“Defitinely, it was a great starting point.”

Although she has been training all summer for the World Skills competition, Alanna said she would usually be working in the kitchen on weekends or during the summer holidays.

Asked about her plans for the future, Alanna plans to stay in the kitchen and hopes it will be one of her own some day.

“I’m in my final year now so hopefully I’d love to have a pub gastro bar one day but that’s a long way down the road.

“I think for now I’m just going to enjoy cooking and see how it’s going.”