Dunedin butcher’s sharp result
DUNEDIN butcher Greg Egerton has reaffirmed his place as one of the world’s top butchers after he and the New Zealand Sharp Blacks butchery team finished runnersup at the World Butchers’ Challenge yesterday.
The challenge, held in Belfast, Northern Ireland, was won by the host nation.
The Australian Steelers finished third, ‘‘much to the delight of many this side of the ditch’’, Sharp Blacks captain Corey Winder said.
‘‘We’re ecstatic. We were pushed right to the wire.
‘‘We have worked extremely hard to get here.
‘‘We all have our day jobs to focus on, so we have to be dedicated and give up our weekends for training.
‘‘But a result like this makes it all worth it,’’ he said following the awards ceremony yesterday.
The team consisted of Mr Egerton, Dunedin), Hannah Miller Childs (Auckland), Jeremy Garth (Christchurch), Zak Grammer (Auckland), and Hohepa Smith, who is working in Australia.
The challenge asked 12 competing nations, each with six team members, to turn a side of beef, a side of pork, a whole lamb and five chickens, into a themed display of valueadded cuts in just 3 hours and 15 minutes.
It was triple delight for New Zealand when earlier in the week, Samantha Weller, of Rangiora, was crowned world champion apprentice butcher, and Luka Young, of Auckland, was third in the world champion young butcher competition.