Professional Chef Lecturer wins royal award at The Game Fair

Chef José Souto has received the BASC Prince Philip Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his work educating future chefs about game products.

Chef José Souto, Senior Chef Lecturer in Culinary Arts at Capital City College (CCC)’s renowned School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts at the Westminster campus has been recognised by a conservation organisation for his work in encouraging emerging chefs to prepare and cook game products.

Chef Souto was awarded the BASC Prince Philip Distinguished Service Award at The Game Fair which took place at Ragley Hall on 26 July. We caught up with Chef Souto, who currently teaches second and third year students on Professional Chef Diploma courses, to find out more about his passion for game and his recent award.

Do you have a favourite dish to cook using game?

I like all game, that’s why I specialised in it – but I’d say anything that’s in season as there are dishes that fit with certain times of the year. Because of the season we’re in now, today I’d say it would be a partridge dish, but if you asked me later in the season, it might be a pheasant dish, or a venison dish – I cook a lot of venison as it’s very versatile. It really depends on what part of the year we’re in.

What are the challenges and benefits of cooking with game?

It is quite a challenge for chefs to cook with game, as it’s a little bit outside the norm. Chefs need to understand a little bit more about the background of the product they’re using. Game meat is very low in fat, so it’s very healthy, but that presents challenges in terms of how you cook it, so you have to bear that in mind. It’s really nutritional and has lots of vitamins and minerals, so it’s great for a healthy diet. Also, it’s a natural product that’s produced by the countryside around us rather than being forced or fed chemicals or steroids to make it grow. It’s a slow growing, very natural product. 

Game suffers from lots of misconceptions, and some of the old recipes were a little unforgiving for the product. Nowadays we tend to understand the product so much better and when we’re looking at ethical, sustainable meats that are healthy, game tops that list.

How do you feel about receiving the BASC Prince Philip Distinguished Service Award?

I was really honored. I got the letter earlier in the summer but I couldn’t tell anybody, and then I received the award at the Game Fair in July, where it was presented to me by the chairman of BASC. It’s great to be recognised for all the hard work that we’ve done. Over the 20 years that I’ve been with the college, we’ve worked hard to highlight the benefits of eating game and its various uses. We’ve incorporated it into our curriculum as a seasonal product and given so many students a background in game that they would not otherwise have had. We’re making sure that our students understand those products and can use them, which is important as they’re very much on trend at the moment.

Prince Phillip himself was a great advocate of eating natural produce such as game. I remember speaking to him once about it, and he was so enthusiastic about using natural ways of cooking like barbecuing and grilling because he really enjoyed it, so it was a real honour to be highlighted with the award.

What do you like about teaching at Capital City College?

Well, the college is the place where I was taught so, after spending some of my career out in the industry, working abroad and in the UK, it’s a way of bringing back some of that knowledge to the students that we teach.

In addition to his work educating the chefs of tomorrow, Chef Souto has also written two cookbooks, Venison: The Game Larder and Feathers: The Game Larder. He also delivers regular Game Seminars at the college where members of the public can learn more about the animal husbandry, preparation and cookery of game.

Curious about a career in the culinary arts? From Professional Chef to Patisserie and Confectionery, take a look at our expert-led Hospitality and Culinary Arts Courses and take the next step towards a culinary career.

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