Every year the cooking skills of Britain’s armed forces come under the spotlight at the Combined Services Culinary Challenge at Sandown Park in Surrey. The competition, soon to be known as Exercise Joint Caterer, is tough and last year even more so with the Army and the RAF sharing the champions’ trophy and the glory. On this occasion however, there was much praise heard behind the scenes about the facilities at the recently refurbished Army catering school in Hampshire.

Everyone is aware of the defence cuts being made by the Government – none more so than the Defence Food Services School (DFSS) where the armed forces are trained to cater for troops at home and in hot spots such as Afghanistan. More than 17,000 jobs have to be axed by 2015 in a bid to save £4.7bn and cuts already announced include the Army’s loss of 1,000 personnel, the Royal Navy 1,600 and the RAF 1,020.

Fortunately, long before any cuts were introduced, work had begun on the Army’s new catering block in Worthy Down, near Winchester. The relocation of DFSS from its old barracks at St Omer in Aldershot had been decreed as early as 2006 and the work completed in 2009. In fact the Aldershot site had been earmarked for a “village”, housing more than 1,000 soldiers as part of an £8bn PFI project by Aspire Defence. Delays in vacating the site would have led to heavy penalties being imposed.

The refurbishment of the former office building, now called Alexis Soyer House after the legendary French chef, cost around £22m to complete. As well as a raft of new equipment, the aim was to make the school tech savvy as well as environmentally friendly. The school could train as many as 1,000 students per year; it has 12 kitchen classrooms plus two realistic working environment dining areas, lecture rooms, numerous IT suites and the i-Hub, a replacement for the library.

Head of training policy is retired Captain Geoff Acott, who also plays key roles at the Craft Guild as national treasurer and through his long involvement in culinary competitions as a military advisor, judge and mentor. He says the school’s only downside is that it now comes under school and education standards regulator Ofsted and paperwork has exploded.

But he’s proud of the new facilities. He says the beauty of the i-Hub centre for example is that it’s open until 9pm and soldiers can do research there to get creative ideas for their work as well as social networking. “We are encouraging them to use the i-Pads they are given to save them lugging books about,” explains Acott. “There were worries they wouldn’t look after them but because they can use them for personal stuff they look after them very well.”

Is it cost effective? “We used to have a library, which needed a librarian, and that was costly. Also when you think that some [Amazon] Kindle books cost less than a couple of pounds instead of £9 for a hardback, it saves more money,” he says.

Classrooms have been designed to be adaptable. Partitions can be drawn to separate them into two rooms for different class sizes, and information pads are velcroed onto walls so they can be easily removed when exams take place. Classes are generally never bigger than 12 students but they can go up to 16 for advanced courses, says Acott.

What soldiers learn will see them through their term of service and beyond if they decide to work in civvy street. Qualifications include City & Guilds NVQs covering essential skills from food preparation to food hygiene. The teaching kitchens are well equipped with smart technology – screens connected to laptops for films, lessons and demos, and the ‘grey’ equipment is very serviceable. Students spend the first 16 weeks at the school before moving on to take up posts worldwide. The aim is for them to leave with at least NVQ level 2.

The first 12 weeks in the kitchen classrooms concentrate on health and safety, cooking methods, practice and skills. By week 10, they will have accomplished the art of producing buffets and complete meals for customers. Week 13-16 is dedicated to field catering training and is described as “good fun”.

Functional skills on the course list mean numeracy and literacy, and the school does its bit for many recruits that arrive with a low level of both. After 16 weeks, says Acott, they leave with a reading age of 15+.

Currently many kitchens are empty. DFSS chief instructor Lieutenant Colonel Nigel Pritchard, who heads the training school, says the school is going through a stage where many soldiers are away on duty and also that army chef numbers are being reduced. This however is about to change when RAF Halton’s trainees are transferred to the school, he says, adding that the move is scheduled for October.

Technical training officer Captain Rob Burns believes the school is good use of public money, and says chefs learn more than just cooking. “Chefs here do a dual role; they cook and lift a rifle. You’re a specialist after the initial quota of lessons.” For example, he says, every trainee chef undergoes counter explosive device (CED) training – which means teaching them how to find CEDs with a metal detector. “Within 12 months you could be sent to Afghanistan,” he explains.

Field catering training consists of a hard standing area for “kitchen tents”, plus a mega tent replicating a static location in Afghanistan where up to nine chefs can work catering for up to 800 soldiers.

The school also provides a perfect place to show chefs unaffiliated to the armed forces how to cook outside their comfort zone. This was the case when army instructors got involved in testing the finalists of the Nestlé Professional Toque d’Or student team challenge in the field (see page 10) and in the classroom.

At Exercise Joint Caterer, which takes place from September 27-29 at Sandown Park, there will no doubt be even more praise for the school.