Taking New Zealand cuisine to the world
As President of the New Zealand contingent for the prestigious Bocuse d'Or culinary competition, School of Hospitality Senior Lecturer John Kelleher is gearing up to bring local flavours to the table.
John leads a team consisting of Candidate Andrew Ballard, Coach Corey Hume and Commis Quillan Gutberlet who will represent New Zealand in the Asia-Pacific selection in Guangzhou, China during early May. In total, 12 countries from across the Asia-Pacific region will compete in Guangzhou, with five teams going through to the Bocuse d'Or Finale in Lyon, France during January 2019.
John and the team recently commandeered the demonstration kitchen classroom on the AUT City Campus for their final practice run in the lead-up to the Guangzhou. The team will also spend time in Melbourne during the mid-semester break for a series of training sessions before flying to China.
"The Bocuse d'Or is a prominent event in the international culinary calendar. All competing teams have 5 hours and 35 minutes to prepare a meat dish and a fish dish and present them to the judges," John explained.
"Each team has to select produce local to their country to use as garnishes in their final dishes too, so we're thinking about which uniquely Kiwi accompaniments we can incorporate."
If everything goes well in Guangzhou, John and the team will gear up to tackle the fierce competition in Lyon in January. "This is a great opportunity to showcase New Zealand cuisine on a world stage," John said.