Blanket Bay chef to represent New Zealand

Media release from Blanket Bay Lodge
18 May 2009

Blanket Bay chef to represent New Zealand in World Junior Chefs Challenge

A young Southern chef is on the road to international culinary success after being chosen to represent New Zealand in the World Junior Chefs Challenge in 2010.

Twenty-one year old Joseph Clarke, a demi chef de partie at Queenstown’s multi award-winning Blanket Bay Lodge, won the 2009 New Zealand final of the Hans Beuschkens World Junior Chefs Challenge recently.

Eight young chefs from around New Zealand, along with two guest competitors from Fiji and Vanuatu, gathered at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium on 9 May for a weekend of intense competition.

Kiwi hopes are high for Joseph –this is the second time in a row he will represent New Zealand at the international event. He previously achieved a ‘high silver’ medal at the 2008 event in Dubai and he says he’s determined to win this time.

“It’s a real honour to represent New Zealand and I’ll be doing everything I can to bring the gold home this time,” says Joseph.

“I’m lucky to have such a great team at Blanket Bay to learn from. They’re all really supportive and because they’ve won awards they understand the pressure you put yourself under to create the perfect dishes.”

Joseph is no stranger to winning awards – he’s currently the Southern Lights Commis Chef of the Year for the second time in a row.

Blanket Bay Executive Chef Mark Sycamore is very proud of his young chef.

“We’re all absolutely thrilled for him. It’s a huge achievement and I believe he can go all the way – he has a very bright future ahead of him,” he says.

He believes Blanket Bay’s policy of encouraging its chefs to enter competitions plays a huge part in maintaining a positive, supportive working environment and retaining staff.

“It’s a win-win situation because it gives our chefs the chance to further their own careers as well as ensuring we deliver a world-class culinary experience to our guests.

“The team thrives on creating fresh, innovative menus and learning from each other. We’ll all be pitching in to help Joseph achieve his goal next year.”

ENDS

Photo caption: Joseph Clarke holding trophy.

Note to editors: For Mark Sycamore’s take on the 2009 New Zealand final of the Hans Beuschkens World Junior Chefs Challenge please read on….

The first element of this duathlon-style competition was the Akaroa Salmon Hot Entrée presented cold dish. Designed to challenge the young chefs in terms of dish design, presentation and glazing techniques there was a very high standard shown by all competitors with a number of chefs in the running for first place.

Day 2 was crunch day. The “live” cook off competition represented 80% of the overall score and made for a high pressure environment. The chefs were tasked with creating a two-course menu for six people using products supplied by sponsors, Silver Fern Farms and Nestle Professional.

Everything had to be prepared and served in a strict timeframe and the tension was visible in the arena. The standard was high once again with some very good food produced by a number of the chefs.

The hard work was done but the competitors had to endure the nerves for a few more hours until the awards ceremony at TePapa later that evening which was attended by the Chilean Ambassador to New Zealand.

For the Akaroa Salmon class, three chefs were awarded silver medals and the overall class winner was Joseph Clarke.

For the live cook off, two chefs won bronze medals and Joseph and Sarah Primose from Northland were both awarded silver medals. With both of these talented young chefs having achieved 2 silver medals each nobody could pick who the overall winner would be as it was clear that they would only be separated by the odd point or two.

After a few tension filled moments and dramatic pauses Gary Millar, the vice president of the New Zealand Chefs Association announced that New Zealand’s representative for Santiago, Chile 2010, and the winner of the 2009 NZ final of the Hans Beuschkens World Junior Chefs Challenge was…Joseph Clarke from Blanket Bay Lodge, representing the Otago/Southland branch of the NZCA.

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