Maria Hiko has flourished in EIT’s hospitality programmes.
Maria Hiko is on her way to foodie heaven.
When she talks about delicious nutritious food, Maria Hiko has that sparkling infectious enthusiasm seen in people who have found their passion.
“It took me a long time to find my passion. I just got fed takeaways as a child, and wanted to learn to cook for my kids, learn about nutrients and balanced diets.”
With that in mind, she enrolled in EIT’s New Zealand Certificate in Hospitality (Level 2) Cafē Service – a six-month programme where students learn basic meal preparation, some baking and coffee-making.
“The length of time scared me,” she admits. “I thought, can I hack it out for that long? But I looked at kids with mothers who didn’t feed them properly and had nothing. I didn’t want that for
my kids, so I thought, let’s go to EIT!”
The course was free and she found she really enjoyed it.
With her confidence and enthusiasm growing, Maria enrolled in the New Zealand Certificate in Cookery (Level 3), where she learned basic cooking skills – how to prepare three-course meals, cut meat and prepare sauces.
She was on her learning journey and there was no going back – this year she enrolled in the New Zealand Certificate in Cookery (Level 4), which is a one-year course and much more intensive, and she loves it.
“Level 4 is much fancier – it’s about high quality food, calculations and making money from food. I had never been in a fancy restaurant so I thought quantity was quality.
“We learned about seasonal foods, and how to run your own restaurant. I have a soft spot for desserts and making them look pretty. We worked with Mark Morrell and he showed us all of these awesome techniques for that.”
With diabetes, obesity and poor health common in her family, the nutrition aspect of her programmes is helping her to help them.
“My dad’s just had a heart attack, so helping him change his diet has been a good feeling. I make pretty much everything on the programme for my kids so I can see if it can be done in a normal kitchen. They love it. It’s been a real eye-opener and my palate has improved also. I bring food back and put everyone at the table and say, yay, let’s do a tasting, see if we can guess what’s in there!
“I didn’t like the ‘me’ before very much, I like what’s coming out now. To be that kind of person you have to put yourself in the right environment, and I found that environment at EIT.”