Outer Eastern Trade Training Alliance (OETTA) Culinary Competition
On a characteristically cold summer afternoon in the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne things were heating up inside the Wurundjeri Trade Training Centre Kitchen.
The facilities, located at Aquinas College in Ringwood are traditionally used for students undertaking Certificate II in Hospitality and Kitchen Operations as part of their Vocational Education and Training studies. On this afternoon however, the kitchen was the stage for an all-out culinary battle between the students at Ranges TEC - Lilydale, Belgrave Heights - Belgrave and Wurundjeri Trade Training. The weapons of choice, oven mitts and hairnets. The rules were simple, cook a mains dish using chicken as the primary ingredient and a dessert using white chocolate as the primary ingredient (supplied by Yarra Valley Chocolate).
There were four teams of three people, with each team working against the clock to deliver a delectable dish to be critiqued by two highly qualified judges:
Daniel Girado, Head Chef, Maha.
Born in Colombia, Daniel was announced as the head chef of Melbourne's Maha restaurant at just 23 years old. Under Daniel's leadership, Maha has retained its one Chef Hat in The Age Good Food Guide.
Albert de Lorenzis, Senior Corporate Chef, UNOX Australia.
Born in Italy, Alberto began his career as a chef in Panama. Working and learning in over 30 countries, including Jamie Oliver's restaurant Alberto is now dedicating his passion to UNOX's customer's in collaboration of research and developing new products, dishes and cooking solutions.
Carefully and methodically tasting each team's dishes, Albert and Daniel has a difficult task ahead of them; ultimately there could only be one winner, their name destined to echo through the halls of haute cuisine history.
So without further ado, a huge congratulations to Ranges TEC, the winners of the First Annual Outer Eastern Trade Training Alliance Culinary Competition! They will be taking home the fabulous OETTA culinary competition trophy.
