Grand Final

All the Regional winners travelled to Mildura for the Grand Final held on 8 September.

The kitchen at Sunraysia TAFE was set up in readiness. The closed circuit TV cameras were turned on to provide spectators in the restaurant with live action coverage of the competitors at work.

Students worked to prepare and present a three course meal of -

Spring vegetable soup with garlic toast

Roast Murray Cod with spinach, sultanas and pine nuts, finished with a Citrus Hollandaise

Mixed Berry Crepe

Five judges closely watched all aspects of preparation and cooking and then tasted the finished products. Judges were Stefano de Pieri of Stefano's, Rebecca Hart of Swan Hill Club, George Santos of Moama Bowling Club, Michael Stokes of Cobram Barooga Golf Club and Ross Graham of Goulburn Ovens TAFE.

The scores were tallied and the judges provided feedback and comments to each team. The judges were assessing the food against industry standards - what would be acceptable and saleable in their restaurants. All Grand Finalists were presented with certificates and copies of Stefano's book. Then the winning team was announced -

Emma and Mykaela of MacKillop College, Swan Hill.

The girls received copies of Gordon Ramsay's book, engraved knives (handy for aspiring chefs!) and will take the perpetual Red Gum trophy back to their school.

Congratulations to Mykaela and Emma and well done to all competitors who presented restaurant standard food in a setting that puts them under pressure and close scrutiny.

Our thanks to all the judges involved in various levels of the Challenge, and to our generous sponsors -

• Lindemans Wines, Mildura
• Swan Hill International College and Carriages Restaurant
• Moama Bowling Club
• Deniliquin RSL
• GV Hotel, Shepparton

Masterclass with Dylan Roberts of Ezard

The Shepparton Regional winners, Bec and Alison, were invited to participate in a Masterclass with chef Dylan Roberts of Ezard.
The Masterclass is part of a program run each year by Goulburn Ovens TAFE.
Bec and Alison worked with Dylan on the night preparing the delicious menu for eager patrons who had booked and paid to enjoy "a night of exceptional wine, food and service."
Dylan is the Head Chef at Ezard, and his combination of Asian cooking and European background has led him to develop his own style of cuisine.

Swan Hill Regional Final, 20th August

Three teams representing MacKillop College, Swan Hill College and Tooleybuc Central School contested for a grand final berth on Wednesday at the Swan Hill College commercial kitchen. The three 'all girl' teams demonstrated their cookery skills and individual creativity to produce and present the three course menu to four local chefs for judging. A margin of 5 points was noted between first and third place. Excited winners of the Swan Hill Region Final are Emma Miceli and Mykaela Pickering from MacKillop College who will proceed to the Grand Final in Mildura.

The Swan Hill Region is proudly sponsored by Swan Hill International College

incorporating Carriages Restaurant

Shepparton Regional Final

The Shepparton Regional Final was held at Goulburn Ovens TAFE on Wednesday 20 August.

Judges were Gracie Sharwood from GV Hotel (also our Regional Sponsor) and Jordan Rosmulder from Country Comfort. Both judges were impressed with the high standard of the competitors and their work.

Winners were Alison and Bec from Notre Dame College.

They will progress to the Grand Final in Mildura.

Our thanks to GV Hotel for their generous support, and Goulburn Ovens TAFE (especially Ross Graham) for assistance with coordinating the event.

Deniliquin Regional Final

It was a close fought competition in Deniliquin with only one point between winners.

Students from Deniliquin High to go to Mildura will be Kaitlyn and Jemma.

Echuca Regional Final

The Echuca Regional Final of the Murray River Culinary Challenge was run and won on Tuesday 19 August at BRIT.

A combined team of Nathan from St Joseph’s and Leanne from Echuca College won the event and will represent the Echuca region at the Grand Final in Mildura on Monday September 8th.

Regional organiser Wendy Shorthouse congratulates all of the competitors on their fantastic performances yesterday. All students were great ambassadors for their schools.

Thank you to everyone at BRIT for hosting a wonderful afternoon. Thanks also to those school representatives that came along to support their students.

Mildura Regional Final

The Murray River Culinary Challenge Mildura LCP Regional Final was narrowly won by students from Mildura Senior College over students from Coomealla High School.

An audience of twenty heard judge, Jo - ann Shadwick review both teams' performance before she announced Mildura Secondary College's De Arne and Elizabeth had won the Mildura LCP Regional Final.

De Arne and Elizabeth, each of whom is a VCE student and includes VET Hospitality Studies as a subject, will compete against eight students representing four other Local Community Partnership regions in the Murray River Culinary Challenge Grand Final.

This annual event will be held @ Sunraysia Institute of TAFE on Monday, September 8th.