The I. Plant-Powered Perspectives public catering chef training has been completed

Our long cherished dream has come true with the launch of our plant-based training for catering chefs and catering managers. The first two-day Plant-Powered Perspectives training course for catering chefs took place on 9 and 10 September 2024 at the METRO Gastronomy Academy. Participation was free of charge but on an invitation basis.

Why is it important to have a plant-based option in catering and hospitality?

It is important that guests also find plant options in public catering. On the one hand, because more and more people are living a meat-free diet of one kind or another, and on the other hand, many of those who do not consider themselves vegetarian, vegan or flexitarian are happy to choose a plant-based meal on occasion. Caterers feed a large number of people on a daily basis, so their training and education on the domino principle will have an impact and can influence the way workplaces, families and communities eat, giving them a new, sustainable, healthier approach.

Two days, two chefs

The professional programme was put together by two chefs, who held two separate days of different types of training.

On the first day, Gergely Zsolnay, executive chef, horticulturist, nutritionist, executive chef of The Planteen in Budapest and former executive chef and manager of Flow Specialty Coffee Bar & Bistro on Andrássy Road, shared his knowledge. The second day was led by Csaba Ádám, vegetarian chef and head chef of the plant-based section of the Stylistic Rural Gastronomy Association.

Participants feed nearly 10,000 people a day

20 cooks, kitchen managers and catering managers attended the training, most of them from the prison sector, responsible for the daily catering of 6-10 thousand people, most of them prisoners, but also staff of institutions and prisons. The cooks came from all over the country to expand their knowledge: besides Budapest, they came from Kalocsa, Tiszalak, Sopron Kőhida, Miskolc, Debrecen, Sátoraljaújhely, Pilisszentkereszt and the Ministry of Interior Conference Centre.

What was on the course menu?

As the BV (Prison Service) was the largest represented in the course, the chefs who put together the technical material came up with ideas for plant-based versions of some dishes based on the BV menu. Both days the menu consisted of a starter, a soup, a main course and a dessert. On Monday, a plant-based stew, mushroom soup, chilli con carne and golden galuska were prepared. Tuesday’s menu included mushroom tartare, whisked bean soup, cabbage casserole and beetroot dumplings with chocolate sauce.

It was interesting to see how the attitude of the chefs changed

At first they didn’t believe that they could cook without meat or even milk and eggs, but by the end of the programme they were amazed at the results and satisfied with the food. This is exactly the aim of NÉGYOSZ, to broaden the knowledge base of chefs and show them that it is possible to cook delicious meals with vegetable ingredients of the same high quality.

This may also answer the Home Office’s point that, although they know that a plant-based diet has many benefits, the regulation of public catering should be designed with the burden on cooks and caterers in mind. We will report back to the Home Office that chefs with many years of experience in catering can go through the kind of change of mindset that we have seen in a single day.

We don’t let go of chefs’ hands after training

An innovation compared to previous plant-based cookery courses is that after the two-day training, trainers will follow up the trainees for a month. A QR code takes them to an interface where they can ask questions and share their insights. So, in a kind of incubator garden, they are engaged in a learning process where they are not thrown into deep water and left to their own devices immediately after the training. After 30 days, Gergely Zsolnay will close the questions and answer them all at once.

Without whom none of this would have happened

We would like to thank the Prison Service management for their contribution to the course. To the participants, who came to the training with an open mind and tried their best to adopt a different approach.

We would like to thank Gergely Zsolnay and Csaba Ádám for developing a unique professional programme and for leading the mentoring.

And last but not least, we would like to thank METRO Gastronomy Academy, which has been playing a leading role in organising plant-based diet events for many years. It regularly organises plant-based cooking workshops and trainings, as it is its mission to keep Hungary in step with the EU countries in the sense that when it talks about sustainability, it also includes plant-based food and catering.