Former UCB students Ieuan Davies and Ben Cowley dazzled the judges on their way to securing places in the Craft Guild of Chefs Graduate Awards hall of fame.
Just six young chefs from across the country achieved the 85 per cent pass mark needed to make the grade, but Ieuan and Ben went one better as they were the two highest achievers - Ieuan in the pastry section and Ben in the kitchen/larder section.
Regarded as one of the hardest skills tests in the industry, a total of 14 chefs made it through regional heats and to the finals, which were staged over a gruelling five hours in UCB's kitchens in Summer Row.
Chair of the Pastry Graduate Award Will Torrent said: 鈥淔or me, the one thing that has stood out beyond anything else is the personal development of these chefs.
鈥淵es we tasted some delicious food that I would be happy to pay for, but I also watched young chefs push through difficulties during the five-hour exam and come out the other side stronger.
鈥淲e witnessed chefs take their time, remain focused and not give up 鈥� all of which are skills only the best chefs have.鈥�
Ieuan, who is now part of the team at Pennyhill Park Hotel in Surrey, studied his聽Level 3 Advanced Professional Cookery聽at UCB and one of his lecturers, Gary Goldsmith, was also on the judging panel for the Graduate Awards.
Gary said: 鈥淚euan was constantly professional towards all of his studies here at UCB, always wanting to gain further knowledge and discover the 鈥榳hys鈥� behind every recipe.
鈥淗is marks were consistently high from all the judges who praised him on his calmness 鈥� even when things didn鈥檛 go his way.鈥�
Ben, who now works at Simpsons in Edgbaston, studied the same course as Ieuan and was another to impress the judge as he finished top of the pile among the kitchen graduates.
Chefs were able to watch butchery, fish and dessert masterclasses to help them prepare for the final exam and Craft Guild vice president Steve Munkley said: 鈥淭his year we saw some of the highest scores we鈥檝e ever seen in the butchery and fishmongery tests and I鈥檓 confident that this was down to the mentor experience.
鈥淚t is two-days of their careers that these finalists won鈥檛 ever forget and while only a few chefs passed the overall exam, the development of basic skills during this process was exciting to see.鈥�
The Graduate Awards were founded in 2002 for chefs aged 23 and under to test and improve the skills learnt at college and in their early careers and to take them to the next level.
Receiving the Graduate Award has proved career changing, with previous graduates going on to gain Michelin stars, work in some of the world鈥檚 top restaurants, be part of the World Skills team and even win the Young National Chef of the Year title.
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