Victorian apprentice chef wins Fonterra chef prize
Dairy company Fonterra has awarded first place in its ‘Proud to be a Chef’ mentorship program to an apprentice chef from Victoria. The winner was announced last night at the Melbourne restaurant Ezard.
Well-known industry figures George Calombaris, MasterChef judge and owner of The Press Club, and Matthew Macartney, executive chef at Chateau Yering, are two of the competition’s alumni.
Jacob Hoskin, from Traralgon in Victoria, was awarded first place in the program, which gives him an international culinary sponsorship tailored to his personal aspirations as a chef.
Hoskin, who is a Victoria University apprentice and studies at Sofitel Academy in Melbourne, said he was overwhelmed to be awarded such a unique opportunity and was proud to be representing Victoria’s apprentice chefs.
Named Australia’s top apprentice chef in the 2011 Australian Culinary Federation awards, part of Hoskin’s submission to the Fonterra program was a recipe for crispy scaled barramundi with avocado mousse, verjuice butter, radish and wild sea vegetables.
WA finalist Josh Skipworth won second place and Daniel Garwood from Tasmania and Wingo Lam from New Zealand tied third place.
Now in its 14th year, the mentorship program provided 32 Australian and New Zealand apprentice chefs with three days of free industry master-classes, giving them access to some of the world’s leading chefs and experts. The master classes are part of an all-expenses paid trip to Melbourne, where the applicants will dine at various award-winning Melbourne restaurants.
Finalists were evaluated on their performance in the master classes.
Fonterra Proud to be a Chef co-ordinator, Carolyn Plummer, said this year’s competition was close and that the innovation and enthusiasm of the participants was outstanding.
“Fonterra is proud to support these bright Australian and New Zealand apprentice chefs and offer them this unique opportunity to enhance their careers and learn from some of the industry’s top icons,” she said.
Applications for the 2014 Fonterra Proud to be a Chef program will open again in the second half of the year.
Our previous report on the Fonterra Proud to be Chef finalist announcements can be found here.
