Search is on for NZ’s top hospitality Apprentices

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Date: 12 February 2009
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Search is on for NZ’s top hospitality Apprentices

The search is underway for New Zealand’s top hospitality Modern Apprentices of the Year.

Entries close on April 17 for HSI’s annual Hospitality Modern Apprentice of the Year Competition, in which apprentice Chefs and Food and Beverage staff compete for their respective Modern Apprentice of the Year Awards.

This year’s competitions are being held at Auckland’s Manukau Institute of Technology on July 5, timed to coincide with HSI’s national conference. The winners will be announced at the conference’s gala dinner at Auckland’s Sky City on July 7.

The prestigious NZ-UK Link Foundation Cookery Modern Apprentice of the Year competition involves apprentice chefs designing a three-course menu, based on a set list of ingredients, and then cooking to that menu within three hours.

HSI’s Chief Executive, Steve Hanrahan, says the cooking competition is designed to be intense, with four judges assessing competitors’ kitchen work through to the finished product. The winner will receive a six-week work experience placement in England organised by Kiwi restaurateur Peter Gordon, including a week in his popular London restaurant, The Providores, and financial support to cover expenses.

The Southern Hospitality Food and Beverage Modern Apprentice of the Year competition is equally as challenging, with competitors setting and serving a table based on a three-course set menu including a silver service main, then competing in a wine evaluation challenge. Mr Hanrahan says the wine challenge really tests apprentices’ product knowledge, in which they name the varietal, region, year and characteristics of five wines.

The winning Food and Beverage apprentice will receive a trip to an Australian wine-growing region of their choice, with $1,500 towards flights and accommodation.

Entry forms for HSI’s Modern Apprentice of the Year Competition can be downloaded at www.hsi.co.nz.
The HSI NZ-UK Link Foundation Modern Apprentice of the Year operates in conjunction with a British-based competition the NZ-UK Link Foundation Culinary Challenge also assisted by Peter Gordon. The NZ-UK Link Foundation exists to enhance the reciprocal relationship between NZ and the UK. It does this through a series of educational, cultural and vocational exchanges.

ENDS

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