Join us for our Open Evening at Leiths on Thursday 5th February 2026, 6:30–8:30pm, and discover how the Culinary Diploma can launch your career in food.
Join us for our Open Evening at Leiths on Thursday 5th February 2026, 6:30–8:30pm, and discover how the Culinary Diploma can launch your career in food.
February at Leiths finds our Diploma students tasting food from all over the globe. From homemade kimchi to handmade pasta, Paris-Brest to plant-based bulgogi, they are absorbing a world of flavours.
These ideas will be invaluable for the Menu Planning project which is introduced this month – a chance to put pen to paper about who you are as a chef and develop valuable skills in allergen awareness, dietary requirements and sustainable menu design. Additional inspiration will come from Laura Rowe, Editorial Director of Delicious Magazine, who is teaching on the Diploma towards the end of the month.
February is a month where our students’ skills begin to come together like a well-kneaded dough. In the ‘chef and commis exercise’, students have the chance to lead as head chef and, on another day, follow instruction as a commis chef. Working together, you deliver multiple plates of pan-roasted duck breast, Madeira sauce and delicious seasonal garnish (the latter of which is designed by the head chef).
There are also two ‘all day’ cooking sessions, which emphasise that a realistic time plan is the key to serving fruit tartlets good enough for a patisserie window just as the kitchen fills with the scent of your perfectly risen spiced buns.
Of course, there is never a quiet month on the Diploma. The preparation for the hefty WSET 2 exam is continuing apace. But a day trip to Hattingley Valley vineyard in Hampshire this month shows that our Diploma students are developing their craft by learning lots of important theory but also doing plenty of tasting too.