Leiths professional courses / Leiths Three Term Diploma in Food and Wine
Summary Leiths Three Term Diploma in Food and Wine
We are now taking bookings for the 2020/2021 Three Term Diploma. The fee for this course is £24,425 (deposit £2,500). Please call 0208 749 6400 to book a tour of the school and an informal interview.
Dates for 2020/21: 28th September to 11th December 2020 (Foundation Term), 4th January to 19th March 2021 (Intermediate Term), 12th April to 18th June 2021 (Advanced Term). We are now taking bookings for the 2020/21 Diploma over the phone.
The Leiths Diploma is a renowned full time cookery course designed for those wishing to launch a career in food. It offers comprehensive professional training that will ensure a rounded knowledge of food and wine along with a clear sense of current industry trends and culinary styles, menu planning and budgeting. Successful students will also gain a CTH Level 4 Diploma in Professional Culinary Arts, which is one level below a full degree.
Open evenings:
For information about our upcoming open evenings, click here.
Suitable for:
Anyone interested in a career in the food industry. This includes:
- Working as a professional or private chef
- Opening a cafe, pub, bistro or restaurant
- Launching a catering business
- Developing food products
- Food styling
- Food writing
- Food media, marketing and PR
The Diploma can be achieved in two or three terms. The three term Diploma, starting in the Autumn, comprises of the Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced Certificates. The Diploma can also be achieved in two terms, starting in January, if you have enough knowledge of cookery, previous culinary training, or sufficient practical experience to omit the Foundation Term.
How to book:
If you would like to book onto the Diploma course starting in September 2019, please email us to arrange an interview or call 020 8749 6400.
If you are offered a place on the Diploma, you will need to provide us with a completed enrolment form and a deposit of £2,500 to secure your booking. If you have any queries regarding how to book the course please telephone the school.
Please note: Payments for professional courses must be made by either bank transfer, cheque or a debit card payment. We cannot accept credit cards.
Course content Leiths Three Term Diploma in Food and Wine
The tabs below detail the sample techniques and recipes that you will learn during each term.
You will be continually assessed during the practical sessions. You must also pass a theory and practical examination and complete the coursework to successfully graduate. A class teacher will give feedback and support throughout the course.
Coursework
You will be expected to study at home for about 4 to 5 hours a week. This will include writing time plans, menu planning and costing exercises. This will form a final portfolio to be assessed at the end of the academic year.
Attendance
You may be disqualified from taking examinations if you have not completed the required 90% of the course.
Complaints
Details of our Complaints Procedure can be found here. If you have any questions about this procedure, please email info@leiths.com.
Foundation term
This 10 week full time term gives you a thorough introduction to kitchen techniques and a variety of cooking styles. Training in kitchen practice, understanding recipes, time planning, menu planning and cooking for large numbers is also included.
The food cooked is largely classic in style with an emphasis on fundamental skills. However international cooking styles and recipes are also covered. You will learn to follow, understand and adapt recipes, plan time efficiently and cook with confidence. You will also gain the Wine and Spirit Education Trust Level 1 Certificate in Wine.
Foundation Certificate in Food and Wine
This term of the 3 term diploma can also be taken as an independent 10 week certificate course. Potential students may have little to no cooking experience or knowledge, but will have an interest in food and learning to cook.
Typical skills and sample recipes:
Meat preparation
Roasting
- Pork
- Beef
- Chicken
- Lamb
- Carving
Jointing
- Chicken with saffron and lemon
Stewing
- Lamb with prunes, chilli, coriander and spices
Frying
- Steaks
Game
- Roast pheasant and accompaniments
- Venison and cranberry casserole
International cookery
- Indian and Sri Lankan
- Middle Eastern
Sauces
- White sauce, Mornay and béchamel
- Combination sauces, e.g. Tomato sauce, pesto
- Liaison sauces
- Pan sauces
Fish and shellfish preparation
- Flat fish preparation - Lemon sole meuniere
- Soy glazed salmon with hot and crunchy salad
- Fish pie
- Shellfish preparation - Moules marinière
Puddings
- Egg whites – Meringues
- Gelatine – Perry jelly
- Ice creams – Coffee ice cream
Pastries
- Choux - Chocolate profiteroles, Gougères, Eclairs
- Shortcrust – Leek and Gruyère, Treacle tart
- Rough Puff – Eccles cakes
Baking
- Bread – White loaf, Italian bread
- Melting method - Black sticky gingerbread
- Rubbing-in method - Scones
- Traybakes - Brownies
- Celebration cakes
Professional skills
- Freelance cooking - Buffet party cooking, Dinner party cooking
- Menu writing
- Basic costing
Wine
- Introduction to wine tasting
- Matching food with wine
- Wine and Spirit Education Trust Level 1 Certificate in Wine
Also covered: Knife skills, presentation, seasoning, egg cooking, stocks, vegetables, canapés, edible gifts, Christmas cooking, cooking for special diets, healthy eating.
Intermediate term
This term enables students to build on their basic skills. By the end of the course students will be able to cook both modern and classic dishes to a high professional dinner party standard. Students will be taught to be more creative and to cook ideas of their own without written recipes.
In small groups, students also cost, plan, shop and cook for 50 of their fellow students as a practical exercise developing their ability to cook for large numbers in a team.
During the term, Leiths List, our agency, will organise careers sessions where students will be able to talk to people from all over the catering industry in order to help make decisions about future careers.
Two term Diploma in Food and Wine and Intermediate Certificate in Food and Wine
This term can be taken as an independent 12 week certificate course or as part of the two term Diploma. Potential students wishing to enrol should be experienced cooks with a sound knowledge of cooking. They may lack formal training and wish to improve their skills and to learn classical cooking methods to create contemporary dishes.
The School can assist in arranging coaching prior to the course to enable students, where appropriate, to join us at this level.
Typical skills and sample recipes:
Meat preparation
Butchery
- 2 day session with butchers
Boning
- Boned chicken with ricotta and sun dried tomatoes
- Butterfly leg of lamb
- Guinea fowl braised with smoked paprika, peppers and olives
- Salt and spice roasted pork belly with caramelized peanut and chilli dressing
International cooking
- Pacific Rim
- Spanish
Professional skills
- Costing - How to organise an event for 200+ people, ordering, staffing, hire, etc
- Menu writing
Game
- Pan fried fillet of venison with fresh pear chutney
- Partridge, Jerusalem artichokes
Sauces
- Emulsion sauces – Monkfish with herby hollandaise, steak with béarnaise sauce
- Pan sauces – Skate with brown butter and capers
- Espagnole – Veal steaks with Madeira sauce
Fish and shellfish preparation
- Fried sardines with a spicy pickled cucumber & red onion salad
- Sea bream with skordalia and a pinenut vinaigrette
- Deep fried squid in herbed salt and pepper batter
- Spaghetti con Vongole
- Salted Szechwan pepper prawns
Puddings
- Gelatine and Mousses – Honey bavarois, chilled lemon soufflé
- Soufflés – twice baked goats cheese soufflé, passion fruit soufflé, pistachio souffle
- Ice creams – Ginger Ice Cream, Damson ice cream
Pastries
- Pate Sucrée – Tarte au citron
- Choux - Aubergine & Proscuitto gougère
- Flaky pastry – Steak and kidney pie, Cinnamon palmiers
- Hot watercrust pastry – Veal and ham raised pie
- Suet pastry – Steak and kidney pudding
- Beignets
Baking
- Enriched bread doughs – Beer bread, Chelsea buns, Walnut raisin bread, Hot cross buns
- Whisking method - Genoise and Crème au beurre
Wine
- Work towards the Wine and Spirit Education Trust Level 2 Certificate in Wine and Spirits (completed during the advanced term)
- Compare old and new world wines
- Discuss current market trends in food and examine the effect this has on the wine trade
- Matching food with wine
Also covered: Knife skills, presentation, seasoning, pasta, canapés, steaming, offal, visits to Billingsgate market.
Advanced term
Refining the skills and techniques acquired during the Foundation and Intermediate terms, students can expect to graduate with the precision required to enter a top level professional kitchen or alternative area of the food industry. By the end of the course students will be able to cook both modern and classic dishes to a restaurant standard. The style of the food is both sophisticated and challenging.
During the Advanced Certificate, students will meet professionals from all areas of the industry and our agency Leiths List can introduce current students to graduates who have followed a variety of career paths.
Advanced Certificate in Food and Wine
This course can be taken as an independent 12 week certificate course. Potential students should very proficient and confident cooks with good knowledge of skills at Foundation and Intermediate level, either from formal training or from cooking in a professional kitchen.
The School can assist in arranging coaching prior to the course to enable students, where appropriate, to join us at this level.
Typical skills and sample recipes:
Meat preparation
- Wood pigeon and black pudding salad
- Lamb sweatbreads with madeira jus
- Ballotine of chicken
- Assiette of rabbit
Sauces
- Beurre blanc
- Cappuccino sauces
- Jus
- Bisque
- Sabayon
Fish and shellfish preparation
- Roasted Pollock with sweetcorn puree and mushroom mousseline
- Braised octopus with caramelised onions and aioli
- Tea smoked mackerel with horseradish potatoes and chive oil
- Honey roast sea bass with pickled ginger
- Lobster and crab ravioli with bisque sauce
- Langoustines with fennel risotto and lemon oil
Pasta
- Hand rolled garganelli with new season morels and spring truffle pesto
- Chicken and wild mushroom ravioli with morels
Puddings
- Vanilla pannacotta with rhubarb and strawberries
- Ice creams, sorbets and parfaits
Pastries
- Puff pastry – seafood feuilletées, Boeuf en croute, Gateau Pithiviers
- Sablées – Sablée aux fraises
- Strudel pastry
Baking
- Bread – Wild yeast sourdoughs, Ciabatta, Fougasse
- Yeasted pastries – Danish pastries and Croissants
- Brioche
Other skills
- Tempering chocolate – hand made ganache filled chocolates
- Preserving – bottling, jams and chutneys
- Sugar work – sugar corkscrews and spun sugar
- Clearing – Sauternes jelly with foie gras terrine, clear lemon jelly
Professional skills
How to start a business – law, health and safety, ordering, laid down procedures, environmental health, staffing
Wine
Wine and Spirit Education Trust Level 2 Certificate in Wine
Also covered: Knife skills, presentation, seasoning, pasta, offal, petits fours, vegetable garnishes and demonstrations from visiting specialists.
Typical day
A typical day normally starts at 9.15am and finishes at 5pm with an hour for lunch between 1-2pm.
The day is divided between demonstrations and practical cooking sessions. You will also receive lectures and demonstrations from gastronomic celebrities and head chefs from leading restaurants as well as caterers, food scientists and other culinary experts.
During the course, there is also the occasional outing and event that goes outside these set hours.
Morning
Your weeks alternate so on one week, your day begins with a morning demonstration at 10.00am; arrive at 9.45am to be prepared for the start.
The next week, your day will start with a practical cookery session; arrive by 9.15am to change into your chef’s whites and start organising ingredients.
Earlier starts:
During the Intermediate term, there are two earlier starts at 9am for the butchery sessions, plus two very early morning visits to Smithfield meat market.
Lunchtime
If the morning cooking session does not run over, lunch is 1-2pm. You can go to the student common room, remain in the demonstration room, do some research in the library or sit in the local park.
All the food you cook is yours, so if you have a morning cookery session your lunch can be what you've cooked. If you have a morning demonstration, you taste the food at the end of the session, but may also want to bring supplementary food from home or eat out locally.
Afternoon
If you have a practical session in the afternoon, allow time to change and get into the kitchens early to weigh up the ingredients.
Classes usually end at 5pm but may finish later on occasions. If you are cooking in the afternoon, the food cooked can be taken home to enjoy for dinner.
Late finishes:
During the Intermediate term we run a charity canapé party for friends and family of students, after the school day has finished.
In the Advanced term, there is a trip to vineyards in Sussex that returns at around 5.30pm.
Qualifications Leiths Three Term Diploma in Food and Wine
By completing this course, you will gain the following qualifications:
- Leiths Diploma in Food and Wine
- CTH Level 4 Diploma in Professional Culinary Arts
- Wine and Spirit Education Trust Level 1 & 2 Certificates in Wines and Spirits
- Assessment in Marine Cookery
- Level 2 Food Allergen Awareness
- Level 2 Award in Food Safety in Catering
- Level 2 Health and Safety in the Workplace
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health class
- First Aid training
Awards
Students completing the Leiths Diploma course are entered for the 'Best Overall Student Award', sponsored by I&P Olive Oils, and the 'Best Wine Student Award', sponsored by Louis Latour. The prizes are generous, enjoyable and educational.
Careers Leiths Three Term Diploma in Food and Wine
What you could do with a Leiths Diploma:
- Set up your own catering company or freelance for other caterers
- Become a food stylist and make food look beautiful for photography
- Develop dishes or products for a food producer or supermarket
- Teach others to cook
- Write recipe books
- Become a food writer
- Become a private chef for a family
- Work in food media, marketing or PR
- Become a chef and aim for a Michelin star or 3!
Alumni
Leiths graduates have gone on to become chefs in the country's finest restaurants, leaders of the London food scene, celebrated TV chefs, editors and stylists at top food publications or successful food entrepreneurs.
See what our Alumni are doing now >
Business advice
For those considering setting up their own business, Leiths holds career seminars and offers talks on insurance, VAT, business plans, public relations, marketing, health and safety legislation and taxation.
Finding work
Leiths can arrange work experience placements in restaurants, magazines and other food companies for Diploma students. Leiths List, the school's agency for chefs, can also assist students and graduates in finding work.
Booking / Fees Leiths Three Term Diploma in Food and Wine
Eligibility
To join a Diploma Course you will need to have a informal interview with a senior teacher or one of our managing directors. Please call the school to make an appointment at a mutually convenient time during the working week, or alternatively it is also possible to have a shorter meeting during one of our open evenings.
How to book
In the first instance please contact us to arrange an informal interview and a tour of the school. Following this, to secure a place, we will require a completed enrolment form and a deposit of £2,500. If you have any queries regarding how to book the course please telephone the School.
Fees
All remaining professional course fees will be due at least six weeks before the course starts. We’ll send you an invoice, along with instructions for ordering equipment, books and uniform closer to the time.
Funding
Regrettably the Professional Careers Development Loan was withdrawn on 31st January 2019 and as yet, a new scheme has not been announced by the Government.
Leiths is registering for the Advanced Learners Loan but sadly this is not likely to be available for our students until the 20/21 cohort.
You can, however choose to pay your fees in instalments. Please call for more information.
Facilities Leiths Three Term Diploma in Food and Wine
Leiths School of Food and Wine is located over 4 floors of a light and airy space on a residential street between Shepherd's bush and Chiswick in West London.
The school is comprised of four kitchens, three of which are used for the full time students while the fourth is used for recipe development, corporate team building, one day workshops, photography and filming.
The kitchens are all equipped with gas ovens and hobs of the same design and high standard employed by most professional restaurants and catering kitchens, giving students access to all the equipment needed to learn to cook professionally.
The demonstration kitchen on the ground floor is fully air conditioned and fitted with LCD screens and cameras enabling students to see the close up details of each step of the dishes and techniques demonstrated by the teachers and outside lecturers.
Students have access to a library of cookery books and magazines for reference, a student dining room, changing facilities and WiFi. There are computers at their disposal.
Preparing for the Course Leiths Three Term Diploma in Food and Wine
Uniform and equipment
As a student on this course, you will require knives (£145 – £360) additional kitchen equipment (£130) and course literature (£75).
You are required to wear a chef’s jacket, hat, apron, checked trousers and non-slip kitchen clogs (£100). Order forms for all required items will be sent with the final invoice eight weeks before the course is due to start.
Accommodation
The School is non-residential, but we keep an accommodation list if you need help finding somewhere to stay while you study. This can be sent to you once you have a place confirmed.
Foreign Language Students and Visas
Students for whom English is a second language should normally have reached an IELTS (The International English Language Testing System) band score (or equivalent) of 6.5 - this equates to C1 on the CEFR (Council of Europe’s Common European Framework).
Students from abroad may be required to send a resumé of their cooking experience, knowledge and skills.
Please contact the school if you are a Non-EU prospective student requiring either a Study Visa or Tier 4 Study Visa.
It's wonderful to have so much opportunity to practice with very high quality ingredients.
Diploma student 2019
* All prices correct at time of publishing. Please note that prices are likely to change at the end of each financial year (April).
NEED ADVICE ABOUT A PROFESSIONAL COURSE? CALL +44 (0)20 8749 6400
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