Gold Trifecta Win For Cookery Apprentice
11 October 2006
An award-winning chicken dish helped Kangan Batman TAFE cooking apprentice Antony Campbell to a winning trifecta in the State finals of the Victorian TAFE Apprentice Cook of the Year Awards, held recently at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.
First Antony, a second-year cooking apprentice from Lalor, won a Gold medal for his special dish-a medley of oyster and shitake mushrooms with stuffed chicken ballotines and a yellow capsicum jus.
Then he went on to claim the Trophy for the best second-year apprentice.
'I was up against 85 apprentices, many of them third years, so I thought that would be it,' says Antony. 'I was really surprised to hear them announce my name for the third time, because I'd won the overall trophy, for the 2006 Apprentice Cook of the Year.
'Antony, 20, has been interested in cooking since childhood, and had a casual job at a local northern suburbs restaurant while he was in year 12. When they offered him an apprenticeship at the end of the year, he jumped at it. He has now worked at several restaurants during his apprenticeship, and was working at Oyster in Little Collins Street when he won a Silver medal at the regional finals in July.
Antony started his TAFE training at Kangan Batman TAFE as a first year apprentice, then transferred to a much larger registered training organisation, before deciding to come back to Kangan Batman TAFE, where the smaller hospitality department means 'really individual attention.'
'I've never looked back-cooking is a passion with me now,' says Antony, who attributes some of his wins to the quality of the training at Kangan Batman TAFE.
'The TAFE training is very important in my eyes, because it give you the basic science of cooking, and an understanding of the ingredients, which then allows you to be creative,' he says.
'Our teachers encourage us to enter competitions, and to learn from others.'
Hospitality, Travel and Tourism teacher, Ross Baker, says 'the whole department is very proud of Antony's achievements and know his enthusiasm will inspire other students.'
With one more year of his apprenticeship to go, Antony Campbell is now working at the Growling Frog Restaurant in Yan Yean, and looking forward to his career as a fully qualified chef.
He has future plans to work overseas, gaining experience in London, then off to work in Europe, possibly France, Spain or Italy, before coming back home to Melbourne. 'Ultimately, I plan to own my own restaurant,' he says, 'and winning recognition at competitions like this is going to be a big help in getting the right experience.'
