The University of West London

Sweden's culinary offerings takes centre stage at the University

Friday 11 May 2012

The University's fine-dining restaurant Pillars was the setting for a lavish three course lunch that showcased the best of Sweden to the local community, esteemed guests from the Swedish Embassy and Visit Sweden.

Students from the University's London School of Hospitality and Tourism worked with one of Sweden's most revered chefs to bring the taste of Sweden to the UK's shores.

Andreas Hedlund is a previous winner of the Chef of the Year, Sweden's most prominent and renowned competition for professional chefs. He worked with the students from the London School of Hospitality and Tourism to show them the secrets of Nordic cooking and produced dishes that celebrated the best of Swedish cooking.

Guests at the special themed lunch enjoyed a menu that included one minute-smoked salmon with green peas, mustard emulsion and sour dough croutons, white asparagus with bleak roe, lamb saddle with lamb sausage, potato cream with Swedish prästost cheese and spring salad and condensed milk ice cream, poached rhubarb with crumbs and seeds.

After service was completed the students and Andreas were given a rapturous round of applause by guests, who were impressed by the quality and high standard of the food and the service in the restaurant.

The students at the London School of Hospitality and Tourism also had the chance to serve dinner to a range of food bloggers in their own homes on Thursday 3 May 2012. 

Following the event students will have the opportunity to add to their culinary repertoire by applying for an internship in Sweden.

Sales of Swedish food in the UK have risen by almost 30% in the past years recently eclipsing the more traditional food nations of southern Europe; Nordic food is now amongst the most sought-after in the world.

Commenting on working with the students from the University's London School of Hospitality and Tourism, Andreas Hedlund said:

'I've really enjoyed working with the students and if I can influence them in any way then that's great.  I have already seen some students who have already got the skills to work in a big restaurant.'

Commenting on the events, Mia Touzin, Field leader for Hospitality and Event management at the University's London School of Hospitality and Tourism said:

'Experiences like those from this event enrich the students learning. The students feedback ranges from 'the food was amazing' and 'I want to become a food blogger' to 'I feel more confident with the guests in the restaurant' and we all worked well as a team, whether in the restaurant or in the kitchen'. These are transferable life skills that support our students' development. I am delighted to have been able to bring the Swedish food event to the University, to the benefit of our students and I hope the local community.'