Wintec’s Centre for Trades hospitality team manager Josh Kanara-Bailey with Wintec student and fare judge Lara Cole.
Wintec’s Centre for Trades hospitality team manager Josh Kanara-Bailey with Wintec student and fare judge Lara Cole.
Wintec Te Pūkenga’s annual culinary fare in Waikato had more than 500 entries, marking it the biggest year ever, in its 19-year history.
Students from intermediates and high schools nationwide descended at the Wintec kitchen at the Hamilton campus, from July 4 to 5, competing for the highest scores to achieve gold, silver, or bronze awards.
The two-day competition featured live cooking and static events and included a new ‘celebration cake’ category, which saw some intense competition.
Wintec’s Centre for Trades hospitality team manager Josh Kanara-Bailey, said the event had fantastic support from industry and graduates with judging.
“We’ve had graduates from our bakery programme come in to give their time to judge which has been successful, especially with the new celebration cake category.
“The judging space has become manageable this year thanks to our graduates who have come back to help. We’ve really had the resources and the people to help this year, even though the fare is bigger, which has been primo.”
Desserts from Wintec's 2024 Culinary Fare.
Natalie Carter, a 16-year-old at the Waikato Diocesan School for Girls, competed in the fare for the third time, showcasing her skills in a professional cooking environment with judges.
“I do Food Technology at school and my teacher .. said she thought I should have a go. I like how professional it is.
“You learn what it’s like to be in a real kitchen with all the proper equipment, the time pressure, and the judges watching your every move, it’s intense and fun.
“I’d never thought about getting into this as a possible future career until coming to the fare, and now I’m thinking about it as it’s really inspiring. Since I started coming it’s grown heaps and I would definitely encourage other students to get involved.”
Michelle Knott, Food Technology teacher at Carter’s school, said 40 of their students entered the fare.
“We’ve decided to bring the Culinary Fare in as part of our academic programme at Dio, we didn’t make it compulsory, but we gave those who wanted to do it 10 weeks of prep time so they could build knowledge and learn techniques.
“We’ve found a lot of students are being influenced by their culture and their culture’s connection with food and that sharing and connecting has been really special this year.”
Cole’s teammate pulled out at the last minute and despite competing alone, she was asked to be a judge this year.
“I get goosebumps when I think about how I started coming to the Culinary Fare as a kid and now I’m back as a judge in my last year of study. I was in middle school when I first entered, and it led me to Waikato Trades Academy and essentially [at] Wintec to do my fulltime study.
“I loved trying the dishes this year, they are inspiring me to try cooking new things myself.
“The incredible thing is these dishes are created by kids, they’re high schoolers, and they look and taste incredible.”
Cole said she encourages any kid with cooking interests to join the fare.
“It’s hard, but that’s the beauty of it. If it was easy, you would get bored. There is always something new to learn and something to inspire you.”
Kanara-Bailey said he wished he could thank everyone involved in making the fare a success.
“It’s just epic to see all the schools show up and put themselves out there. The students learn so much and have a good time doing it,” Kanara-Bailey said.
“It takes a lot of people to put it together for the students. I want to say a special thanks to Wintec’s Sue DeLacy who is retiring this year. She has been involved in every Culinary Fare since conception 19 years ago.
“We are happy for her, but very sad to see her go. She will be very missed.”
