Medlow Bath’s Hydro Majestic Hotel chef Ashleigh Walker had her cooking skills recognised last month when she took home silver at TAFE’s Ryde campus in the 2016 Nestle Golden Chef’s Hat Award cook-off challenge.
Ashleigh, 21, and her teammate Tegan Friedl’s silver winning menu included; main course of butter and thyme poached pork loin, oat and pork neck scotch egg, caramelised baby fennel, juniper berry jus, tomato polenta and chimichurri and dessert course of coconut panna cotta, rhubarb jelly, grapefruit curd, tuile and spun sugar.
Ms Walker entered the Nestlé Golden Chef’s Hat Award to see how she would stack up against other young chefs.
““I competed last year and didn’t hesitate to do it again, I really enjoy the experience and think it’s a great opportunity for young chefs to further their culinary skills,” she said.
Australia’s longest running culinary competition saw the region’s best up-and-coming young chefs step up to the plate over two days on June 20-21.
Australian Culinary Federation Competition Director, Deb Foreman said: "We applaud all the young chefs that competed. Putting yourself up to be judged on your culinary talent amongst your peers is tough and we know that they will all take a lot from the experience of competing, in honing their skills and gaining more knowledge.”