Northland and Hawera students win budding master chef and maître d’ titles
Hawera High School cookery students Talya Clark and Tyrone Thomson and Kamo High School front of house student Matt Genefaas took home the national titles in the final of the HSI Junior Hospitality Challenge.
The Taranaki and Northland hospitality students competed against 26 other students from 15 secondary schools in a series of live cooking and front-of-house events at the New Zealand Culinary Fare held in Auckland this week. The hotly contested final was the culmination of 11 regional events held this year that a record number -around 880 –of students participated in to win their way through to the final. The 2010 JHC Final was hosted by HSI (the Hospitality Standards Institute), along with the NZ Chefs Association and Southern Hospitality.
Tayla and Tyrone were the winning team in the live cooking event, the vegetables.co.nz Horticulture NZ Secondary Schools Challenge. Matt won the overall front-of-house competition by first creating a gold-medal winning mocktail and then presenting a novelty table setting with a regional theme that earned him another gold medal.
While these were the overall winners, there were three runners-up: Ben Curnow and Lucas Syminton of Nelson Boys College won gold in cookery; Kara Brown of Coastal Taranaki School picked up gold in the Novelty Table Setting and a silver medal went to Emily O’Brien of Christchurch Girls’ High School for her entry in the Mocktail Mixology competition.
“The judges commented on just how skilled many of our hospitality school students are. This competition provides a great environment for young hospitality talent to grow and showcase their skills. These are the future stars of the hospitality business. My congratulations go to all the participants for their hard work, enthusiasm and the outstanding standard achieved,” HSI Chief Executive Steve Hanrahan said. “And the effort that teachers, coaches, parents and supporters put in to get the students to the National Final should also be commended.”
| Overall winners |
Secondary Schools Challenge - cookery event | Front of House event |
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Talya Clark & Tyrone Thomson - Hawera High School (Gold)
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Matt Genefaas - Kamo High School (Gold)
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Gold medal winners
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Ben Curnow & Lucas Syminton - Nelson Boys College
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Matt Genefaas - Kamo High School Kara Brown - Coastal Taranaki School Briar McPhail - Heretaunga College |
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Silver medal winners
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Bianca Stevraff & Rachael Joilin - Burnside High School, Christchurch Tiana Harrod & Taryn Potter - John Paul College, Rotorua William Griffith & Craig Montgomery - Wellington High School Luke Thompson & Darren Jarret - Massey High School Nikita Stevenson & Ashleigh Howell - Queens High School, Dunedin |
Emeline Silinu'u - Southern Cross Senior School Kara Brown - Coastal taranaki School Elijah Pue-Fieckert - Ruapehu College Briar McPhail - Heretaunga College Abel Mok - Nelson Boys College (2) Emily O'Brien - Christchurch Girls High School (2) Conor Monagham - Southland Boys' High School |
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Bronze medal winners
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Tai Nguyen & Longitude Ah-Lam - Southland Boys' High School Scott Brough & Desmon Terere-Cooper - Gisborne High School Brittany Hill & Maria Murray - Whangarei High School |
Hauhautoa Uele - Massey High School Emeline Silinu'u - Southern Cross Senior School Elijah Pue-Fieckert - Ruapehu College |
Click here to see Cookery video
Click here to see Front of House (Mixology) video
Click here to see Front of House (Novelty Table) video