Doubtless Bay butcher Abigail Lane has been selected for New Zealand's national butchery team, the Pure South Sharp Blacks, who will defend their tri-nations title against Australia and England in England next month.
Abigail, who completed her apprenticeship at Pak'nSave in Kaitaia but is now at the Cooper's Beach Butchery,is one of six to make the team, captain Corey Winder saying many months of refining their skills, and a sharp final practice in Auckland, had them showing a good deal of promise.
"We are feeling really, really good. Three weeks to go and the adrenaline is pumping," he said.
Each team will have two hours to turn a side of beef and a whole lamb into value-added meals, creating more than 50 products similar to what would be found in a top-shelf butchery.
Meanwhile, for all her obvious talent, Abigail had a number of jobs before starting in butchery. She left school at 17 to work in the family business, designing and maintaining an e-commerce website, for several years, then worked for herself as a computer technician for a couple more. She then became a kitchen hand in a Thai restaurant before she began her apprenticeship in 2009.
Two years later she was crowned Apprentice of the Year. She was 2012's Young Butcher of the Year, and last year she won the Alto Young Butcher of the Year title.
