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Otago Polytechnic student wins the ‘Most Innovative Dish Award’ at the Fonterra Proud to be a Chef competition
Date: 1 Mar 2013
Otago Polytechnic’s Bachelor of Culinary Arts programme has added another feather to its cap with the latest award brought in by their student Stephanie Peirce at the Fonterra Proud to be a Chef competition held in Melbourne this week.
Stephanie, a second year student of the course, was awarded the Most Innovative Dish award for her entry ‘Cinderella’s Transformation’. She was one among the 32 finalists from the whole of Australasia.
“My dish tells the story of Cinderella’s transformation,’’ Stephanie explains. “The golden carriage, a gold dusted white chocolate sphere, sits on the soil of a pumpkin patch, a cinnamon and cocoa crumb with pea sprouts. This is brought to the table with a jug of fairy dust, a warm salted caramel sauce.
“At the table, the waiter explains the story of the carriage and its miraculous transformation while pouring the sauce over the golden carriage. The heat of the sauce reveals the pumpkin within which is a spiced pumpkin mousse and the transformation is complete.”
Stephanie said that she was inspired to create a dish that told a story and the transformation added theatre to the dining experience. With a strong ambition to work in food media, she describes her ideal job as working for a food magazine or a food related television programme and educate people more about food.
“We are incredibly proud of Stephanie’s acheivement on the international stage. It is a fantastic reward for her creative talent and her hard work,’’ Dr Richard Mitchell, Associate Professor, School of Hospitality says. “We are especially proud that Stephanie received the innovation award as this is recognition that what we teach our students has value beyond the classroom.
The Bachelor of Culinary Arts teaches students how to use design techniques to marry the cooking knowledge and skills they are learning with their own ideas to create their own dishes and food experiences. Stephanie’s dish was one that she designed and developed herself for one of her first year projects,’’ says Dr Mitchell.
The final in Melbourne was held over three days and the competitors got a chance to participate in master classes held by renowned guest chefs Teague Ezard, Leigh Power and Peter Wright.
Apart from cooking their own dish for the competition, the participants also had to complete a mystery challenge based on what they learned from the master classes.
Photo below: Stephanie's winning dish - ‘Cinderella’s Transformation - photo by Brian Treanor’
