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Apprentices shine in culinary competition

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Two South Regional TAFE students were awarded medals at the Australian Culinary Federation (ACF) Apprentice of the Year competition.

Stage 2 apprentice Jordan Murphy, Bunbury campus, and Stage 1 apprentice Jacob Dare, Margaret River campus, both competed in the ACF competition which was held at North Metropolitan TAFE’S Joondalup campus.

Jordan won a gold medal and Jacob was awarded silver. Both apprentices are completing a Certificate III in Commercial Cookery. They were accompanied by their commercial cookery lecturers Kathryn Tindal-Davies (Bunbury), and Amanda Smith and Kelly Dickinson (Margaret River).

Kathryn and Amanda also judged the competition, alongside metropolitan TAFE lecturers and industry representatives.

The students enjoyed the experience and performed extremely well under pressure, despite working in an unfamiliar kitchen.

Jordan said she decided to give the competition a go as she thought it would be a worthwhile experience.

 “I was a bit nervous at first but once I got going and worked out the kitchen, I was fine,” Jordan said.

“When they called my name as the gold medal winner, I was very surprised!” she said.

“It was lovely for my family to attend and watch the competition. They were very proud.”

Jordan will also compete in the WorldSkills National Championships later this year.

Jacob said it was a good experience and he enjoyed the overall atmosphere of the competition.

“I’ve never done anything like it before and I’ll definitely give it another shot in the future,” he said.

Jacob, who is also a keen snowboarder, said he got into cookery because he wanted to work in a job that would allow him to travel all over the world one day.

He thanked his lecturers and the head chef from his employer restaurant El Toro for their support.

“I’d really love to work in a ski resort as a chef in Canada or Japan,” Jacob said.

Jacob’s lecturer Kelly Dickinson said she was proud of Jacob’s dedication and the way he trained for the event.

“He stayed back for weeks after class to run through and perfect his workflow,” she said.

Pic 1: Gold medallist Jordan Murphy with lecturer Kathryn Tindal-Davies.

Pic 2: Lecturer Kelly Dickinson with silver medallist Jacob Dare in Margaret River