At the Purple Campus in Béziers, a successful first in the Job chef France Travail competition

Les participants ont profité d’un vrai matériel de professionnel. Midi Libre – Rodrigue Delpas

Ce lundi 18 mars a eu lieu la première édition du concours "Job chef France Travail" au Purple Campus de Béziers. Sept candidats se sont affrontés.

In kitchen number 2 of the Purple Campus in Béziers, the stoves heated up this Monday, March 18. When you enter, the heat is suffocating. The smells are tempting. Seven candidates are in the running as part of the "Job chef France Travail" competition. An event organized by France Travail in partnership with the Occitanie Region and the Union of Hotel Trades and Industries (UMIH).

"We established this event in response to the major recruitment difficulties in this sector of activity, explains Monique Rouby, in charge of the organization. It was open to all job seekers, with no age limit.&quot ;

"Nothing to lose"

Thus, the profiles of the candidates are very varied. "I have always been cooking, even as a teenager, I took care of preparing meals at home, says Yannick, 48 years old, looking for work. I told myself that this would allow me to combine business with pleasure, so I went for it."& nbsp;Some candidates are questioning their direction, like Manon, 22 years old: "I don't really know which way to go, smiled the young woman. I have no particular training in cooking but I like it so I said to myself: give it a try, you have nothing to lose! "

From a basket, composed of several vegetables, condiments and two chicken fillets, the seven participants had to make two plates within a given time. They were judged on five parameters: compliance with the schedule, plating, texture and cooking, combination and originality of flavors as well as taste. All of which allows us to give a score out of 50.

In the jury, four people: the chefs Patrick Olry, currently retired and formerly of the Ambassade restaurant, and Philippe Cagnoli, of the Le Pré Saint-Jean restaurant in Pézenas. They were accompanied by Angélique Dommergue, for France Travail, and Jérôme Villepreux, for the Occitanie Region.

And it was Kenza Chebak, originally from Vias, who managed to seduce the jury. She won the meal for two people at the embassy offered by the UMIH. But the real issue still remained the training, offered to all participants.

Future prospects

À At the end of this competition, the Region offers all participants receive professional and paid training (one month in a training center and fifteen days of internship in a company) for the job of kitchen assistant to enable them to acquire recognized and expected skills. Then, qualified interns will be offered seasonal job offers to enter the job market. work from May and June. 200 training places will thus be financed. At the same time, as part of the regional training plan, 788 training places for the profession of cook will be deployed throughout the regional territory. .

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