MIT students bag bevy of medals

Friday, 13 October 2006

MIT students bag bevy of medals at top national culinary contest

Hard work and training paid off for a group of students from Manukau Institute of Technology’s Catering and Hospitality School (CHATS) who scored a number of medals at the 2006 New Zealand Culinary Fare this week.

MIT students took out one gold, four silver and four bronze medals in a host of categories at the fare, which was held from 8 to 10 October, and won silver in the prestigious Toque D'Or competition.

Diploma of Culinary Practice student and Auckland City resident Sureerut Adunyarittikun won gold for coming first in the Pacific Rim Fusion (Open) category. Although still an MIT student, Sureerut entered the contest as a Sky City Auckland employee.

Meanwhile, Nadine Louw of Pukekohe, Charlton Brown of Manurewa and Luke Lo of Howick made up the CHATS team competing in the 16th Nestlé Toque D'Or competition, held alongside the Culinary Fare.

The team won silver medals for both their cookery and restaurant service skills at the premier national competition, which was contested by 13 tertiary institutions from around the country.

The Toque D'Or contenders faced an extraordinary amount of pressure as they were judged on both the service they delivered and their culinary expertise, says MIT lecturer George Win, who coordinated the team.

“The students worked very hard preparing for both the mental and technical aspects of the competition and faced a lot of pressure on the day, but performed very well.”

Teams had to prepare and serve a three-course meal to a judging panel made up of high profile culinary professionals, according to a menu prepared in advance that was judged on the use of correct terminology and recipe development.

In the overall New Zealand Culinary Fare contest Maggie So was the class winner and was awarded a silver medal in the Original / Innovative Cocktail (Junior) category, as well as bronze in the Table Setting, Clearing and Crumbing Down (Junior) category.

Dong Liu won sliver medals in both the junior Fruit Flan and Pasta Dish categories, while Vinu Pillai, who entered as a member of the Hilton Auckland team, won silver in the Mediterranean Dish (Open) category.

The Original / Innovative Cocktail Junior category also earned Jessica Lawler and Yanan Yang bronze medals, with Sara Fung winning bronze in the junior Fruit Flan and Soup contests.

The annual New Zealand Culinary Fare, in its 14th year, is hosted by the Restaurant Association of New Zealand and presented in association with the Hospitality Standards Institute (HSI).

Held at the ASB Showgrounds in Auckland, the event comprises 60 competitions covering both the kitchen and restaurant sides of the hospitality industry and attracted up to 1000 competitors keen match their skills against their counterparts.

Head of CHATS, Johann Wohlmuther, is delighted with all the students’ achievements. “I am always pleased when students put themselves up to be judged and to see that our coaching and training delivered results.”

“We have been knocking at the door to gain overall success in the Toque D’Or for a couple of years and had high expectations. It is great that our students won medals in a broad range of categories at the fare as it indicates that CHATS delivers an exceptional level of education and training across all aspects of the hospitality industry.”

CHATS won the 2006 HSI Training Provider (Qualification Pathways) Excellence in Training Award in July. It also sponsored the Table Service Open contest at the New Zealand Culinary Fare.

ENDS

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