Auckland duo New Zealand’s new junior Masterchefs

Auckland duo New Zealand’s new junior Masterchefs

Five teams from around the country have competed in a 90 minute `Masterchef-like final` to win the first National Secondary Schools Culinary Challenge at Manukau Institute of Technology’s School of Culinary and Hospitality today.

The winners of the Auckland regional competition, Anthony Kapeli-Sua and Joy Gesmundo from Papakura High School, claimed the top national prize, beating four other regional winning teams from around the country including Hamilton Boys High School, Inglewood High School, Hastings Girls and Napier Boys High Schools and Heretaunga College.

The national award has been created and overseen by City & Guilds – one of the largest and most respected international examination and accreditation organisations and Manukau Institute of Technology provided one of its teaching kitchens as the venue for the inaugural event.

The five teams of two students had 90 minutes to prepare, cook and present an entrée and main course for four.

Their entrée had to contain a fresh New Zealand grown vegetable, with Kumara as the principal component of the dish. The main had to include at least three fresh New Zealand grown vegetables, one of which must be a starch. The protein component of main had to be a chicken breast with skin on and bone in.

The teams created their own recipes and provided recipes and menu descriptions before the competition began.

The Papakura pair dedicated their win to their teacher Gaynor Mathews. Kapeli-Sua said in his acceptance speech, “Without her we wouldn’t have been here today.”

“It’s been a privilege to work with her for the past five years doing what I love,” he says.

Gusmundo, whose family moved to New Zealand from the Philippines in 2009, echoed this saying, “I dedicate this prize to my teacher. I am really happy and very proud that we have won this award today.”

Gaynor Mathews put the win down to the dedication and creative ideas of the pair. “They have trained really well, they did a huge amount of research and came up with a lot of concepts and ideas themselves and they’ve kept me on my toes,” she says.

Anthony Kapeli-Sua has already been chosen to train under Gordon Ramsay next year in France and Joy Gusmundo she hopes to follow a career in cooking or nursing.

Three very senior qualified chefs from New Zealand’s hospitality industry judged the finals. They were Chief Judge: Mark Wylie, Chef and General Manager of Caterplus; Michael Van de Elzen, Chef and TV presenter of `The Food Truck` and John Kelleher, Chef and Senior Lecturer Culinary Arts at AUT.

Chief Judge Mark Wylie said the standard the teams shows was well beyond the judges expectations. “The teams have no formal qualifications or industry experience yet a lot of what we saw and tasted was of an industry standard,” he says.

MIT Senior Chef Lecturer and competition Floor Manager, Craig Lucas says, “In the past school hospitality studies have often been seen as a filler subject but with the profile of careers in the culinary industry being raised through television shows such as ‘Masterchef’ students are aware they can make a career out of their passion.”

“Professional chefs are also on Immigration New Zealand’s priority skills list so there’s plenty of jobs when they complete their studies and we are going to need more tertiary trained hospitality staff if we host the next America’s Cup!”

City & Guilds Pacific Regional Manager, Glenn Fulcher says, “It’s been fantastic to see the teams move up another level from the regional competition and the quality of what they produced today has a real restaurant flavour.

“It was also great to see the teamwork and communication between team members as these are crucial skills when you work in a professional kitchen.”

The winning team have won a prize pack worth $6,000 including a $2,000 City & Guilds scholarship for each student, a gift pack from
www.vegetables.co.nz and City & Guilds. The winning school receives a $1,000 Bidvest voucher and get to hold the NSSCC trophy for the year.

City & Guilds would like to recognise the industry support that has made the National Secondary Schools Culinary Challenge possible: www.vegetables.co.nz, Bidvest, Poultry Association of NZ and MIT.

ENDS

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