Monday 26 August 2019 7:50pm
Aquinas College chefs Rani Cohen (left) and Dylan Henry celebrate their win. Photos and video: Sharron Bennett.
While some might enjoy a cup of tea alongside their meal, Otago residential college chefs were challenged to incorporate tea into a meal.
The Aquinas College team of Dylan Henry and Rani Cohen rose to the challenge producing two courses and beating out the other nine teams to win the Residential Chef of the Year Competition on Thursday evening.
Brian Galvin and Liz Benn of Arana College placed second, while Sumi Yoo and Tracey Leishman of Toroa College placed third.
The annual competition is an opportunity for residential college chefs to step out of their kitchens and showcase their talent in a MasterChef Mystery Box style competition.
Each team was given a choice of venison tenderloin, duck breast and yellowfin tuna loin and had to incorporate the mystery item of Dilmah black tea into their creations.
The competition was judged by Mark Wylie, National Sales Manager for Southern Hospitality, Greg Piner, executive chef at Vault21 and Prohibition Steakhouse, and Tony Heptinstall, senior lecturer in food design at Otago Polytechnic.
Aquinas College chefs Dylan Henry (left) and Rani Cohen hard at work during the competition at the Link last week.
The win was a bit of a surprise for chef Mr Henry.
“At the moment it's quite a surreal feeling. It's nice to have the win and it's very unexpected. I went in just to compete and take part in the competition,” he says.
His partner for the competition, Mr Cohen, is not employed as a chef at the College, instead he works as a kitchen hand and as part of the front of house team – and he's a vegetarian to boot, Mr Henry says.
“He did so great under the pressure and stress of the first time doing it. He didn't even falter – he did extremely well.”
The team produced a first course main of seared venison tenderloin, on a beetroot puree, the beetroot was bleached in an infused spiced tea stock. They served it with a red wine and tea infused jus and garnished with kumara shavings.
Their second course was dessert – a strawberry and chocolate fondant, served with a strawberry and tea infused coulis and garnished with a cashew praline and cream.
One of the pair's winning dishes - seared venison tenderloin on a beetroot puree, with a red wine and tea infused jus and garnished with kumara shavings.
The judges said the placings came down to technique, flavour, presentation and how the compulsory mystery item, was incorporated into their dishes.
Organiser Gary McNeill, Union Catering Manager, says the competition is both fun and serious at the same time, with bragging rights going to the winning college.
“It pulls them out of their comfort zone.”
The competition is also a great way to show off how great the chefs at the colleges are, he says.
“Not many people understand what a full production this is [cooking at colleges]. They're producing over two million meals per year.”
A new edition to the competition this year was the Scone Off.
Sick of people telling him who had the best scones on campus, Mr McNeill decided to challenge the kitchens on campus to put forward their best scones for the new competition.
Te Rangi Hiroa College can now brag they have the best scones, while Knox College came second and the Staff Club came third.
The event, in its 10th year, featured plenty of activities for the audience, with a 'kid's corner' complete with a chocolate fountain, slushy machine, popcorn and lollies, a cupcake decorating competition and a blind tasting competition.
The winners of the competition did not just take home bragging rights, they were given a first place trophy along with a brand new espresso machine and Dilmah tea packs.