Young Aoraki cooking student wins gold

Release: Immediate

Date: July 2, 2009

By Graeme Stilwell

Young Aoraki cooking student wins gold in Christchurch competition

A career as an Army chef or as a cooking teacher came a step closer this month for one of Aoraki Polytechnic’s students with “cooking in my blood”, Jessica Hodges.

The 18-year-old student chef has taken out a gold medal award from the Christchurch Polytechnic in a Canterbury-wide cooking competition that left judges delighting in the delicate flavours of a Mille - Feuille of Mushrooms, an entrée presented between layers of puff pastry and adorned with red peppers and cream cheese.

The skill in the preparation and presentation of the dish earned the gold medal from CPIT with judges praising Jessica’s finesse and understanding of the art of cooking and her ability to interpret the dish’s niceties.

Presently in her first year at Aoraki and completing her Level 3 Certificate in Cookery, the gold medal is seen by Jessica as an important milestone in her journey to become a cooking teacher and possibly later joining the Army as a chef.

“I just love cooking so much I would like to teach others to also become chefs and I am planning to enrol in Teachers College after finishing my Aoraki course,” Jessica said.

The former Mountainview High School student is no stranger to cooking success – she also won a silver medal in Auckland last year while a secondary school student, again with the help of Aoraki Polytechnic which assisted with preparation for the Auckland school contest.

“I can’t thank them enough. The tutors here are really helpful.”

Jessica travelled to the Christchurch contest with fellow cookery students Renee Lyons and Chika Kaneko.

“We just all had so much fun.”

ENDS

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