Meet the Rising Culinary Star in the Final for Le Cordon Bleu Scholarship
Le Cordon Bleu Scholarship is one of the UK's most prestigious culinary competitions, which helps to launch the career of upcoming culinary talent
We caught up with Bethany ahead of the finals, where competitors will be asked to complete a culinary challenge presented to a panel of judges including Emily Roux and Nicolas Houchet of The Savoy.
Bethany’s love of cooking goes back to a young age. ‘When I was a little girl, every six week holidays I would go to my grandma’s house and she would always have fun things to make,’ she says. ‘I really enjoyed it and it was always something that I looked forward to. We’d get to the moment where my mum would come home and we’d show her what we’d made in the day.’
As she got older, Bethany’s passion was pushed to one side for more practical pursuits, but she never gave up. ‘The communication when I was at school was there are more serious jobs,’ she explains. Bethany built a career working in STEM roles, finance and healthcare, but cooking remained a constant. ‘If I ever had any spare time, after work or at weekends, I was always trying recipes.’
When a chance encounter put Bethany into contact with a successful private chef, she jumped at the chance to learn more about the culinary world. ‘I’ve done a few events with him now where I’ve been his sous chef and assisted him. I was up in Northumberland a couple of weeks ago doing a 60th wedding anniversary and it was just so much fun.’
In the back of Bethany’s mind the whole time was Le Cordon Bleu Scholarship and the chance to learn at the prestigious school. ‘I’ve known about the school for quite a long time,’ she explains. ‘I read Julia Child’s book as a teenager, who’s one of the main alumnus of the institution.’ The first year that Bethany had intended to apply, the scholarship had not been available, and with each subsequent year, life got in the way. This year, however, Bethany decided to take the plunge at last. ‘This year was the year it felt like everything fell into place really,’ she says. ‘I was very honest about my motivations for applying and everything that had happened up until that point.’ Bethany also got the opportunity to explain her philosophy around food in her application – that it shouldn’t be surrounded by guilt, but should be fun and enjoyable.
Though Bethany won’t find out the details of the final challenge until closer to the time in early September, the semi final was a blend of sensory challenges and an interview. ‘It was a really interesting process. The sensory challenges had some tasting and some smelling, followed by writing down what we thought the ingredient was,’ she says. ‘There were a few curveballs in there where I think if you weren’t a big foodie and hadn’t tried a tonne of ingredients you might have been stuck. The quiz as well was similar.’
Out of 32 semi-finalists, only 16 made it to the final and Bethany is among them. Despite the pressure, she’s determined to enjoy the process no matter what. ‘I tried to really just take it in and appreciate that I was walking around the school and I was talking to people that have the same enthusiasm as I do. It’s a great privilege to have had that experience. I think if I were to paint the ideal future for myself, [cooking] is something that I’m doing regularly because it is something that I enjoy so much.’
