Master of Culinary Arts: Past Tasks - 2005 tasks
Restaurant Management & Service
Entry Task:
- Describe, in not more than 400 words, what you consider to be the four most important qualities of a Maître d’ Hôtel.
- Describe, in not more that 400 words, your three most significant achievements of your career to date.
- Describe, in not more than 200 words, how you have ensured that your knowledge and skills have remained relevant and up to date.
- Describe, in not more than 200 words, how you have contributed to the training and development of others.
Semi Final:
Stage 1:
- An interview on their essay submissions and their career;
- A two-part written examination testing a variety of professional knowledge;
- A party booking exercise to test social skills and selling techniques, which will also include testing knowledge of their own menu and wine lists, and
- A telephone booking exercise
Stage 2:
Skills
- Cocktail preparation
- Blind wine tasting of four wines
- Wine decanting
- Cigars
- Preparing and presenting fresh Pineapple
- Preparing Caesar salad
- Carving Roasted Duck
- Slicing Smoked salmon
Final:
In the morning candidates were judged on their appearance, cheese knowledge and mise en place. This was followed by the service of a 4 course meal to one table of 3 covers and one table of 4 covers. There were a variety of skills to perform during the meal, as part of the service, about which candidates were briefed in writing 3 weeks prior to the final and further during the morning of the final. These included:
- Good presentation and welcoming skills
- Wine & Champagne Service
- The preparation and service of steak tartare.
- Carving of rack of lamb
- Jointing of a chicken.
- Fish filleting
- Service of a digestif
- Cheese service
- The preparation of Strawberries Romanov
- Sorbet Service
- General knowledge expected from and MCA
