Top secondary school chefs to compete in Tahiti

Top secondary school chefs to compete in Tahiti

Auckland, 15 May 2015: New Zealand's top two secondary school chefs will head to Tahiti later this year to showcase their culinary skills and flair.

As the winners of this year's annual National Secondary Schools Culinary Challenge (NSSCC) on August 28, the young chefs will compete in the International Secondary Schools Challenge (ISSCC) in Tahiti from October 4 - 10. The first regional competition is this weekend in Wellington.

During the ISSCC competition the team of two students will prepare, cook and display four servings of one main dish within one hour from start to finish. The dish can be modern, classical or original and all ingredients must come from the list provided by event organisers.

While in Tahiti contestants will also immerse themselves in local cuisine and culture with a tour of the island visiting a local pineapple plantation and fruit juice factory, enjoy a picnic on Moorea Island, visit a local marae and dine at the famous waterfront Place Vaiete roulottes (foodtrucks) in Papeete.

ISSCC is in its 11th Year and is organised by the Australian Chefs Federation (ACF) – Queensland chapter. ACF President Andrew McKenzie says, “This competition has been running for more than 10 years and is designed to give students an insight into our industry, and encourage and train the chefs of tomorrow."

Teams from Tahiti, NZ, New Caledonia, Japan, Taiwan and Australia are already confirmed to compete, with Fiji, Vanuatu, Guam and the Cook Islands also invited.

"It's fantastic that the NSSCC winning team gets to represent New Zealand at this world class event. The experience will set them up for great culinary careers and they will gain further knowledge about international cuisine, culture and meet like-minded students from across the Pacific region," Andrew says.

Chef Mark Wylie from Cater Plus will mentor the team. “It will be a big challenge for the NSSCC winning team to jump straight back into developing and training for the ISSCC final. We will already have a great winning formula though following on from the New Zealand competition, so it will be a matter of lifting this to the next level. It's a very exciting challenge and I'm looking forward to nurturing young culinary minds to their full potential."

NSSCC event organiser, Glenn Fulcher from City & Guilds, says “This will be an amazing opportunity for the winning team taking our nationally recognised event to the next level and I am very excited to be involved. Travelling and competing in Tahiti will be great reward for all the hard work the national winners, including their team trainer/manager, would have put in to winning our national honours and will offer them an amazing opportunity to experience another country's cuisine."

The trust is now seeking sponsorship to support the team travelling and competing in Tahiti. If you are interested, please contact the CADT team on culinaryartsdevelopmenttrust@vodafone.co.nz

ENDS

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