Future Top Chefs Hope To Shine At Toque D'Or

Talented student chefs studying at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology are training in earnest for the upcoming Toque d’Or competition – the most prestigious tertiary cooking contest in the country.

This year there will be two teams from Toi Ohomai – Aroha Fryer, Tarandeep Singh Deol, Sheyanne Collom (front of house) and Georgia Farmer (reserve) from the Tauranga campus, and Mikael Aranga-Papuni, Bethaney Allen and Mikey Takiwa (front of house) from the Rotorua campus.

Both teams will be cooking up a storm through their mid-semester break to perfect the menu they hope will win them culinary gold when the competition is held in Auckland next month.

The rules of the competition state there must be a salmon entrée, lamb main and a dessert, but the teams are keeping their menus top secret for now.

Tauranga team manager and star chef Shane Yardley says being chosen for Toque d'Or speaks volumes about the potential of these budding chefs.

“Competing in Toque d’Or will provide the students with a definite edge; it tells future employers these are really top young chefs. They all have bright futures in the industry.”