Kitchen medal detector

By Seth Hynes
HEALESVILLE chef Brittany McKeon has been inspired after becoming a medalist in a regional cook-off.
She received a silver medal at last month’s Nestle Golden Chef’s Hat competition, held at the William Angliss Institute of TAFE kitchens.
The competition gathered nine pairs of budding chefs from across Victoria to compete for a spot in the national finals.
Ms McKeon, 24, and her team-mate Adam Khazzal earned second-place under Cameron Wetton and Mathew Wynn, last year’s national winner.
She has worked at Chateau Yering in Yarra Glen for a year after switching her apprenticeship from a café so that she could learn more in the well-known winery.
Working at Chateau Yering boosted her confidence levels she said adding that her boss was very supportive.
“Matthew McCartney is a great chef to work under,” she said.
“He doesn’t try to take shortcuts with learning skills.
“I’ve still got a lot to learn, and I’m going to stay at Chateau Yering so that I can learn it.”
Ms McKeon said she enjoyed the competition, getting along with her teammate and using her initiative in making a menu on-the-spot, unlike an apprenticeship that has her following instructions.
Reminiscent of Iron Chef, the cook-off consisted of a mystery-box challenge that contained baby barramundi, lamb loin and a variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables.
The teams had to cook a tasty and attractive three-course meal using only the ingredients in the mystery box, as well as five Nestle products in their menu.
For the entrée, she and Mr Khazzal made poached barramundi with a citrus and dill salad and carrot and cumin puree.
The main course was lamb loin with a citrus and nut crumb, polenta chips and an eggplant puree with zucchini ribbons and jus.
For dessert they made a chocolate tart with caramel and mandarin.
“It could have been a bit more organised for us,” she said, “as everything we did we came up with on the day.”
She said that “it was definitely a good experience and I had a really good day.
“It doesn’t matter if you win or lose,” she said, “as competitions are good for experience.”