Nov 25, 2011
One of our culinary graduates, Megan Anderson has just returned from London where she has represented New Zealand in the cookery section at the World Skills Competition.
Megan placed 6th in the world with a mark of 87.7% and a ‘Medallion of Excellence’, the winning mark was 89.7%, a stunning result! In addition, Megan won the award for top New Zealand representative.
Megan’s journey began back at Kerikeri High School, where her passion for food surfaced early. She was their top hospitality student for two years in a row, winning numerous competitions and awards. In 2009, she started her professional studies at the Culinary Institute of New Zealand, winning a gold medal in the kitchen as part of that year’s Toque d’Or team.
World Skills started in March 2010 when she competed at the regional competition at NorthTec in Whangarei. She won this event and from there trained for the national competition held in Christchurch in September 2010. At the competition in Christchurch, Megan won again and qualified to represent New Zealand at World Skills London 2011.
The training has been extensive, starting in January of 2011. Megan initially returned to Kerikeri once a month to train. At this point she had finished her chef training with the Culinary Institute of New Zealand, was living in Auckland and working at the ‘French Cafe’. In May the training increased to every two weeks, and in August it was every week. This meant Megan worked Tuesday to Saturday, drove to Kerikeri on Sunday, trained all day Monday & then drove back to Auckland to start work on Tuesday.
Megan is an amazing young lady with a dedication and passion for cookery that will see her go far. Megan impressed with her complete commitment and steely resolve, always underpinned with a smile and a friendly attitude.
The Culinary Institute of New Zealand is extremely proud of Megan’s success and would like to thank all those people that supported her throughout her journey:
• Pete Nichol (Northland World Skills representative, NorthTec tutor, President Northland Chefs Association) Thanks Pete, you were always there and never wavered in your support.
• Northtec Whangarei (Competition venue and allowing Pete the time to assist with training)
• The Northland Chefs Association (sponsorship)
• Penguin Wholesalers Whangarei (product and sponsorship) Thank you Derek Slater, your continuing support of Northland’s young chefs does not go unnoticed.
Megan’s success was based on her deep passion for food and dedication to her training. The team at the Culinary Institute of New Zealand pride themselves on encouraging their students to harness and embrace these natural abilities while instilling key principals of the profession throughout their training.
For your opportunity to study with Quantum’s Culinary Institute of New Zealand in the Bay of Islands and the chance to live your culinary dreams, contact Dale on 09 407 3410 or visit http://www.qegroup.co.nz/culinary-institute/.
