Imperial chef and barista win national awards

An Imperial chef has secured first place in a national contest for his exquisitely decorated cake.

The University Caterers Organisation (TUCO) annual skills competitions were held at Warwick University on Monday 10 and Tuesday 11 April, with 150 delegates from over 50 universities competing in a range of activities.

Stefan Miles was awarded Gold and Best in Class in the pre-prepared cake category for his Alice in Wonderland creation; while another member of Imperial catering staff, Alberto Ramirez Ramos came home with Silver in the barista skills competition, wowing judges with his signature Anisete coffee.

Stefan, who has worked at Imperial for nine years, revealed that he has only been making cakes for a few years and that his first attempt was for the birthday of his young daughter, who suffers from allergies.

“We simply couldn’t find any suitable allergen-free cakes, so I decided to have a go myself. She requested that it be themed around ‘Mr Tumble’ – who, unbeknown to me, is a clown-like children’s TV character. I thought the resulting effort was sub-standard, and frankly Mr Tumble looked a little worse for wear, but she absolutely loved it and so did her party guests and their parents.

“Gradually, I started making more cakes, improving and learning new skills and techniques and word got around I guess. It’s really spiralled lately, I’m incredibly busy.”

Stefan made a cake of Imperial's White City Campus, currently under development

Stefan works for many hours on each cake, producing bespoke creations to the very specific requirements of his clients. While not a classically-trained pastry chef, he says he has a very methodical approach and does a lot of research beforehand.

“For example, with the Alice in Wonderland cake, I must have looked at twenty different hat styles for the Mad Hatter by different artists, before designing my own version. Also, I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist, if there is the slightest element out of place then I am more than happy to throw the entire thing out and start again.”

Smell the coffee

Imperial’s other TUCO medal-winner, Alberto Ramirez Ramos, started working as a porter in the College kitchen just over 2 years ago having moved from Spain. Last October he transferred to front of house, and after undergoing barista training, found he had a natural talent for it. 

“Everyone can learn to make coffee, but there’s a world of difference between an acceptable coffee and one that is really good – you have to experiment with grinding, extraction time and different ratios. I’m very much still learning.”

After winning Imperial's internal barista competition, Alberto was persuaded to enter TUCO. There he had to make two espressos, two cappuccinos, and two signatures for a panel of industry judges who were looking for taste, presentation and calmness under pressure.

For his signature coffee, called Anisete, Alberto explains that he drew upon influences from his native country.

“In Spain a lot of people, particularly the elderly, drink coffee with anise seeds, so I wanted to bring a more contemporary edge to that. I started experimenting at home making various syrups with star anise from the local supermarket, but it just didn’t work, so I ended up bringing the right anise back from Spain!"

The finished article also contains orange zest, cinnamon and iced milk. To secure a medal though, required Alberto to go the extra mile.

“You have to treat the judges as you would a customer, talk to them and be charming. I gave them a pair of sunglasses, sprayed a little orange essence around and said: ‘just imagine for a moment that you are in Spain’. It seemed to work! I'm really motivated to go one better next year and win."

Also competing at TUCO were Steven Robertson and Andy Crook in the Chef’s Challenge, in which a team of two chefs cook a three course meal from a list of ingredients provided prior to the event. Andrea Galanska competed alongside Alberto in the barista skills challenge. 

Imperial’s Head of Catering and Events Campus Services, Jemma Morris, said: "We are extremely proud of all the competitors who represented Imperial and absolutely delighted for Stefan and Alberto for impressing the judges and receiving this recognition.

"They are all a credit to the College and glowing examples of the hard work and dedication of our team."