The Academy of St Nicholas’ culinary workshop with MasterChef: The Professionals star

Year 11 food technology students at The Academy of St Nicholas in Liverpool spent the afternoon with a local Italian chef to prepare for their coursework.

The local chef was Gabriella Margiotta, who reached the semi-finals of Masterchef: The Professionals 2022.

As part of their GCSE coursework, students were tasked with planning, preparing, cooking, and presenting a final menu to meet the needs of a specific context.

To do so, they have to use appropriate technical skills and processes to create three to four Italian dishes.

The academy asked chef Gabriella Margiotta to host a workshop with the class, who were excited to learn from a professional to help them further develop the necessary skills required for the course.

Gabriella is a sous chef at her family’s restaurant, Cucina di Vincenzo, in Woolton, Liverpool. Her experience includes working in numerous restaurants, going to catering college, and much more.

Gabriella’s talent as a chef has been recognised through awards such as Cuoco of the Year 2019.

During the workshop, students worked with Gabriella in preparing, cooking, and presenting a classic Italian dish. They received top tips on how to present Italian dishes and advice on flavour combination as well as complex, high-level dishes.

The class were able to talk to Gabriella about her career and hear about her own crafted recipes.

Armand, a student that participated in the workshop, commented: “I am now considering a job as a chef and will hopefully get to MasterChef: The Professionals like Gabriella who inspired me.”

Miss Bell, head of design technology at the academy said: “My Year 11 class were so excited for the Italian workshop ran by Gabriella. As soon as she started the workshop, the students were engrossed and her passion for Italian cookery really shone through....”