Three EIT students aim to be the hottest team at this week’s Nestle Toque d’Or – a competition staged for New Zealand’s very best hospitality students.  

Trainee chefs Courtney Booth and Nicole Barnes and restaurant service student Jocinta Sens have been locked into a gruelling training schedule in the run up to tomorrow’s (THURSDAY JULY 27) big event.

Guided by their tutors, the EIT team have designed a four-course menu around sponsor products.   Now, after a succession of dry runs, the three are confident they can prepare their elaborate dishes, and plate and serve them, with matched wines, to ‘dinner guests’—all within a tight time-frame and under the critical gaze of a panel of local and international industry judges. 

The competition promises to be tough.  Ten institutes from throughout the country are taking part, with each entering a team comprised of their top students.  The teams are converging in Auckland, where they will compete in a simulated live kitchen environment.    

It’s going to be the culmination of months of preparation, says NZChefs national president Graham Hawkes.  Participants have had to train while still managing their work and study commitments.

In their favour, Courtney and Nicole are seasoned entrants in cooking competitions. 

Courtney attended Tamatea High School where, as a 15-year-old hospitality student, she won a silver and two bronze medals.

“So I know what the judges will be looking for in Auckland,” the Taradale resident says.

Having gained the level 3 New Zealand Certificate in Cookery, Courtney progressed to the level 4 programme.  She then worked at Napier restaurant Mint for a further four years before enrolling in the advanced level 5 New Zealand Diploma in Cookery, opting for the patisserie strand.

“I like patisserie because of its endless possibilities,” she says. “You can take one recipe and turn that into a million things.”

Finishing her studies later this year, she plans to head herself into a catering career.

Also studying for her diploma, Nicole entered the Salmon Live cooking competition in May. 

While she was happy with her dish, she says she fell down on the paperwork.

“It’s really important to get that right.  You have to be very precise.”

The former Central Hawke’s Bay College student studied event management and tourism in Wellington after leaving school.  She and her partner, Lorenzo Zanoli, decided to move back to Hawke’s Bay to be close to her family.

The couple are getting married and plan to start their own family next year so, for a time, she laughs, she will be cooking baby food rather than haute cuisine.

Enjoying food and interacting with people,  Jocinta first gained her level 3 New Zealand Certificate in Food and Beverage Service and then moved on to level 4  Professional Restaurant Service.

Once she’s gained her second EIT qualification, the 17-year-old hopes to work for one of Hawke’s Bay’s top winery restaurants.  The long-term vision is to have her own “posh diner”, a mobile eaterie that can be moved from place to place.