爆料王

A student who decided to follow his dream and retrain to become a qualified chef at the age of 30 has returned from an 鈥渋ncredible鈥� placement at the Edinburgh restaurant of Scotland鈥檚 youngest Michelin-starred chef.

Kishaan Patel, who is in his first year of a Level 2 and 3 Professional Cookery college course at UCB, spent three weeks working with the best at , which is located in a whisky bonded warehouse in the old dock area of Leith.

Proprietor is known for winning a Michelin star at the age of just 29 and appearing on BBC MasterChef, Saturday Kitchen and The Great British Menu.

Seasonal produce at The Kitchin arrives fresh every day and all meat and fish is bought in whole, with butchering and filleting done in-house daily.

Spending his first week on the meat section, Kishaan had the opportunity to learn some unbelievable skills, including how to butcher a whole roe deer for venison dishes and make stocks from scratch, including veal stock, which is made every 48 hours.

He was also shown how to make the restaurant鈥檚 signature lamb and pepper sauce, guinea fowl consomm茅, chicken liver parfait and lamb pithivier wrapped in pancetta.

In the second week, he went onto fish, learning how to prepare hand dived scallops, whole lobsters, live langoustines, razor clams, crab, squid and mackerel.

鈥淭he team was brilliant and so patient with me,鈥� said Kishaan, who works part-time as a commis chef at Little Blackwood in Moseley alongside his studies.

鈥淚 learnt how to make shellfish ginger and orange consomm茅 and lobster bisque, as well as a lobster coral butter that changes colour when you add heat. I must have prepared nearly 50 lobsters over the week.鈥�

From Nature to Plate

The 31-year-old also helped to make fresh pasta dough every morning and in line with The Kitchin鈥檚 鈥楩rom Nature to Plate鈥� philosophy, accompanied head chef Lachlan to pick fresh girolles 鈥� chanterelle mushrooms - in the woods for the taster menu.

鈥淭he experience was incredible, hard at times, but I got used to it,鈥� said Kishaan.

鈥淭he speed, energy and intensity of the kitchen was something I haven鈥檛 seen before, 14 chefs creating incredible food very fast for anything up to 260 covers a day and to such high standards - the head chef tastes and checks everything.

鈥淭he restaurant is very old school in that it鈥檚 a lot of pan work, touch and feel cooking and steaming of fish, but is rustic at the same time. Nothing goes to waste 鈥� the bones of the deer are used for stock and sauces, the rest for venison pie.鈥�

Kishaan also got to work on the fish section during service. 鈥淚t was exciting and intense,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was shown the different garnishes and how to cook them.

鈥淭he whole placement was a great eye opener to see what is possible, and my training and the chef lecturers at UCB really helped me prepare for it. I am going to go back to the restaurant next year for game season, I can鈥檛 wait.鈥�

Kishaan added that it was never too late to follow your dream.

鈥淚 had always loved cooking, but was working for the family firm and never took it further. When I reached 30, I decided on a career change and decided to go through with my dream of becoming a chef. It鈥檚 the best thing ever and I can鈥檛 wait to get out there and make my mark.鈥�

UCB chef lecturer Kali Davidson said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 wonderful that Kishaan had such a fantastic placement opportunity, he鈥檚 an extremely promising chef and should excel in his second and final year of his course.鈥�

Find out more about courses and placement opportunities at the College of Food.