SIT | Te Pūkenga Cookery student Yari Mowatt and 29 of her fellow classmates who had their hard work and dedication rewarded recently, as they worked under the guidance of some of the country’s best-known chefs in the much-anticipated annual Pure South Famous Young Chefs’ Luncheon.
Held at Hansen Hall on the SIT campus in April, around 160 local foodies flocked to the popular luncheon to have their taste buds delighted with an array of mouthwatering flavours in the five-course degustation menu. This year’s line-up of returning famous chefs saw Steve le Corre, Tony Smith, Darren Wright, Mark Sycamore, and Cameron Davies, joined by first-timer Quinn Ojala.
This is the second year Yari has volunteered for the event; it’s been a highlight of her programme at SIT, describing it as amazing, and a great opportunity for students. “No-one should miss it. It gives you so many industry connections...”
Working in small teams under the guidance of a ‘famous chef’, students carry out two days of cooking and preparation prior to the Sunday afternoon event. Yari has worked under the tutelage of Alliance Brand Ambassador, Darren Wright, for two years, requesting to be put in his team again this year. “The first year it was just a coincidence, I didn’t know who he was. He’s an amazing chef.” She particularly enjoyed learning new cooking techniques from Mr Wright’s mentoring. “He’s so smart the way he explained things to us ... he’s well respected around NZ.”
The team prepared a seared lamb rump with smoky mashed potato foam, and a courgette tortellini filled with carbonara sauce. “It was so well cooked and all the flavours combined perfectly,” Yari said.
Cooking at this level was more complex as there are multiple steps to every component. “[It] has to be perfect,” she emphasised; there’s no room for error. Over the two days “all the students work so hard together”, exchanging ideas and knowledge between them. “There’s a lot of asking questions; I’m excited to have them learning from me, and me from them as well,” Yari added.
The most demanding part of the weekend was achieving the standards Yari expected of herself. “Not disappointing my chef... not overcooking anything, following Darren’s instructions; it’s important to do it as perfectly as you can. I wanted to do my best.”
Yari admitted there was added pressure plating up the food in front of the diners. “It is challenging and you get nervous of course,” but overall she was more excited than nervous. “The menu, the chefs, learning as much as I can, and seeing all the people so happy with the food,” these were the big rewards for her, however, the most satisfying aspect was engaging with all the professional chefs, seeing what they were doing and talking with them about cooking. “Being really involved this year with Glenn [Stridiron] and all the other tutors was really good for me,” she explained.
Another stand-out event incorporated into the SIT Cookery programmes which Yari highly rates is the Rakiura Challenge on Stewart Island. “All the people there are so nice,” she said. It involved a four-day stay on the island and cooking a 300-person buffet for two nights. There were different dietary needs required for each buffet – one pre-event and one post-event. “You have to consider the runners’ needs pre-race, not too much heavy food,” then on the second night, “after the race they’re so hungry. And it’s fully prepared by students so that’s pretty cool as well.”
Yari has two months remaining to finish her Diploma in Culinary Excellence (Level 5) qualification. Already a certified chef and currently employed at The Langlands she’s looking forward to gaining more experience in the role as she takes up full-time work. In the future, she aims to continue expanding her knowledge and skills through gaining a wide variety of experiences, and plans to stay in the South Island to do this. “I love Queenstown, I can see myself going there; there are a lot of restaurants and a lot of opportunities.” Christchurch was another appealing option too.
When choosing her career, Yari deliberately picked one which would bring travel opportunities. “It was one of my thoughts ... I want to be something that’s going to allow me to move around the world and keep doing what I love.”
SIT Programme Manager Hospitality / Cookery, Glenn Stridiron, said it was a pleasure host the Famous Chefs event annually because of the learning opportunities it presented to students. “Both staff and students alike put in a huge effort to make the luncheon a success each year. SIT students are the backbone of the event in putting together the food,” he said, adding “Our dedication is to our students to involve them in top industry opportunities, blending industry insight and knowledge; combining those two elements together is why we make it happen.”