Local chefs to feel the heat in regional final

Apprentice chefs from around the Northern Territory will have the chance to pit their plating skills and showcase their culinary talents as they go head to head in the 2014 Regional WorldSkills Open Commercial Cookery Competition today (Wednesday 19 March).

Charles Darwin University commercial cookery and bakery lecturer Jason Wilkes said 10 young chefs and apprentices from Darwin, Katherine, Jabiru and Alice Springs would compete to create a sumptuous three-course meal to impress the judging panel.

“The competition will test the apprentices’ techniques and their ability to work under pressure to plate up dishes according to strict menu guidelines within an allocated time,” Mr Wilkes said.

He said that during the simulated kitchen service competitors would only be able to use the ingredients available to them to create an entrée, main and desert.

“The emphasis will be on problem solving and creativity,” he said. “Rather than giving students particular dishes to prepare, we want them to think outside of the box. The style and presentation of their menus is completely up to them.”

Mr Wilkes said that above all, the competition was a great confidence builder for apprentice chefs.

“Once young chefs have competed in their first competition, apart from realising it is not that scary, it improves their confidence and generally they get a taste for competing,” he said.

“The more competitions chefs do the better the chef they become. Discipline, professionalism, passion and confidence are all results they can expect to gain from competing.”

He said the winner would represent the Northern Territory at the Open Cookery National WorldSkills Australia Competition in Perth in September. The winner of the national competition will travel to Brazil next year to compete in the WorldSkills

Today’s competition will be held at CDU’s Palmerston campus training kitchen. After preparation time of six hours, the entrée will be served to the judges at 1:30pm, with the competition concluding at 3pm.

WorldSkills aims to instil young Australians with the confidence to excel in their trade or skill by inspiring and providing them with an opportunity to showcase their trade and skill talent.