NZ ingredients highlight cooking tilt

WHILE New Zealand has made many contributions to global food culture (popular dishes from the island nation include Beef Wellington and Pavlova — but don’t tell Australia), it doesn’t exactly have the status of a culinary capital. But a cooking contest by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), which was held on May 15 in CCA-Makati called Food Connection 2017, might make you think again.

Participants of the contest included Most Institute Culinary School, STI Muñoz Edsa, Lyceum Subic Bay, University of Makati, and PACE Academy. The students were tasked to make three-course meals with ingredients from New Zealand which were available on-site. These ingredients included dairy, mussels, vegetables, and beef, among others.

The students from PACE Academy (Carlo Magno Simando and Jaya Kimberly Gonzales) won the competition with Citrus braised lamb shank, sautéed summer vegetables, Parmesan Anne, green pea mint foam, followed by Portobello pie, garden salad with raspberry coulis and mixed nuts honey chunkers, ending with Peach raspberry dark chocolate mousse with mirror glaze and brandy snap.

Part of the event was the promotion of New Zealand as a destination to study hospitality and the culinary arts. Kesiah Jacinto, who studied in New Zealand (earning a National Certificate in Professional Cookery Level 4 at Auckland Hotel & Chefs Training School) told BusinessWorld during the contest that it was not knowing what New Zealand had to offer that attracted her to the country. “When I went there, I was really surprised [with] the diversity of the cultures there,” she said. New Zealand, after all, was populated first by Polynesians before its colonization by British natives.

Ben Burrowes, Regional Communications & Strategic Communications Manager for Education New Zealand in Southeast Asia, also talked to BusinessWorld about New Zealand’s desirability as a culinary learning hub. He mentioned that three institutions have been rated in the Top 50 for their hospitality programs, namely University of Waikato, Auckland University of Technology, and Lincoln University, according to the 2017 QS World Rankings.

He also supports Ms. Jacinto’s observation, adding that Auckland was named the third most diverse city in the world (in a study by the 2015 World Migration Report). He also added that New Zealand was the most peaceful English-speaking nation in the world, and has been so for eight years (this one supported by a study by the Institute for Economics and Peace’s Global Peace Index).

He said: “You come to New Zealand, you’re welcomed.” —