Team WA were announced National Winners last night at an exclusive industry awards dinner at The Sebel Albert Park Melbourne.
In a first for the national young chefs competition, Shane and Cameron are the only team ever to have won two years consecutively.
Shane (20) and Cameron (21), both chefs at Perth Convention Centre, beat seven other finalist teams from around Australia, achieving one silver and two gold medals for culinary excellence.
The nation’s best and brightest young chefs cooked their way into the grand final cook-off challenge (held at William Angliss Institute of TAFE on Tuesday 14 September) where they had to create a three-course meal to impress the professional judging panel.
The talented two’s winning menu included an entrée of citrus butter baked barramundi with beetroot puree and barramundi crackle, yabby and barramundi tortellini, and yabby and barramundi mousseline wrapped in leek and pickled beetroot. Their gold medal winning dessert was a dark chocolate ganache tart with a mandarin parfait and crushed caramel vanilla marshmallow, mandarin compote and kiwi fruit coulis.
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“Shane and Cameron delivered an exceptional menu, executed to the highest standard. They are truly deserving of the top spot and, in winning this prestigious competition for the second year in a row, have established themselves as rising stars of the culinary world,” says Competition Director, Deb Foreman from the Australian Culinary Federation.
She adds: “We applaud all eight finalist teams for making it as far as they did in the competition. Shane and Cameron were up against some very talented young chefs. The standard at this year’s national final exceeded all expectations – it was truly the best yet”.
The Perth based chefs have their sights set on travel and ultimately want to run their own restaurant.
As recipients of the 2010 Nestlé Golden Chefs Hat Award, Shane and Cameron will enjoy a roundtrip to Chicago USA in May 2011, where they will carry out work experience at Charlie Trotter’s, one of the world’s finest and top rated restaurants, to get a hands-on insight into innovation and excellence in the culinary arts. They will then attend the largest global gathering of restaurant and foodservice professionals, at the National Restaurant Association Show – Shane and Cameron will get to see the big-name chefs of the world in action and discover all the latest innovations in the industry. To top off the once in a lifetime culinary journey, they will also get to know the ins and outs of the foodservice industry with a tour and training at Sysco, North America’s leading foodservice marketer and distributor.
Competing in the Nestlé Golden Chef’s Hat Award gives young chefs under 25 the opportunity to become recognised as the best up and coming apprentices in the industry by putting their cooking skills to the test.
The Nestlé Golden Chef’s Hat Award is the longest running chef’s competition in Australia and is dedicated to the development of junior and apprentice chefs.
For further details visit www.nestleprofessional.com or www.austculinary.com.au
