College Culinary Teams “Better than Many Masterchefs” – Simon Gault
6th July 2014
TVNZ’s Masterchef Judge, Simon Gault will join the judging panel for the final of the National Secondary Schools
Culinary Challenge at MIT in September.
Gault was one of four judges for the Auckland regional challenge where eight secondary school teams competed in a
90-minute Masterchef style cook-off for just one spot in the Nationals.
Simon Gault told the students that he was “seriously impressed” and compared them to the select few who have done it on
TV, “it was better than many make on Masterchef, you guys are on fire”.
LONG BAY GOES ALL THE WAY: North Shore's Long Bay College won the Auckland regional Secondary Schools Culinary Challenge
on Wednesday at MIT. The student team of Kim Minseop and Lee Kiwon now have three months to practice before the final.
Pacific Regional Manager of City & Guilds and Chief Judge, Glenn Fulcher said Kim and Lee have set a brand new benchmark, “we have never awarded a
Secondary School Culinary Team 92/100 before. Kim and Lee have created a precedent, broken the record and laid down the
gauntlet for the Nationals”.
REGIONAL RESULTS: Long Bay College won by two points. Manurewa High School students, Bupphe Lam and Daniel Wu
accumulated 90 points to take second place and were the only other culinary team to receive a Gold Medal. Jalisa
Jacobson and Breeze Kingi from Papakura High School and Alexander Southwick & Rebecca Roberts of St Kentigern College were awarded silver medals. Teams from Papatoetoe High School, Botany Downs
Secondary College, Rosehill College and Lynfield College took away Bronze.
THE CHALLENGE: The teams had to prepare, cook and present an entrée and main within 90 minutes.
The entrée had to use New Zealand grown LEEK as the principal component of the dish.
The main had to include potato and two other fresh New Zealand grown vegetables and a Chicken Breast with the skin on
and bone in.
NATIONAL FINAL: Ten teams from all over NZ will compete for the National Secondary Schools Culinary Challenge trophy on
Friday the 12th of September
The Secondary School Teams representing Northland, Waikato, Taranaki/Wanganui, Hawkes Bay, Wellington, Rotorua, Timaru,
Nelson/Marlborough and Canterbury will travel to Auckland for the final at Manukau Institute of Technology's Culinary
School. The NSSCC was held for the first time in 2013 and Papakura High School was the inaugural winner.
SPONSORS COOK UP BIG PRIZE PACK: The NSSCC was developed by industry leaders wanting to showcase some of highly skilled
professions and long-term career opportunities in NZ’s hospitality industry. Sponsorship has more than doubled since the
first Challenge last year and the 2014 champions will win thousands of dollars in prizes.
The winning school receives a $7,000 E32D4 Blue Seal Turbo Fan Oven and stand from Moffat NZ plus a $1,000.00 voucher
from Bidvest.
Both students receive a $2,000.00 scholarship towards their study of a City & Guilds International Catering Qualification, an iPad Mini plus gift packs from vegetables.co.nz and City & Guilds
Industry supporters and sponsors of the NSSCC are:
City & Guilds – http://cityandguilds.com
Poultry Industry Association New Zealand (Inc) - http://pianz.org.nz
Vegetables.co.nz - http://vegetables.co.nz
Potatoes NZ - http://potatoesnz.co.nz
5+ a DAY - http://5aday.co.nz
Bidvest – http://bidvest.co.nz
Moffatt - http://moffat.co.nz
Southern Hospitality - http://southernhospitality.co.nz
ENDS