UCOL | Te Pūkenga Whanganui Cookery students have had a strong showing at the Taranaki Hospitality Competitions, winning four classes.
All eight UCOL | Te Pūkenga students who entered the May 27 competitions in New Plymouth walked away with medals in trainee chef categories.
Class winners included Sophie Coupe (Celebration Cake), Alicia Te Mana (Soup), Kataraina Hurinui (Pasta), and Sueanne Hasler (Cheesecake).
This was the first time UCOL | Te Pūkenga students had entered the competitions since 2015.
Cookery Lecturer Gina Guigou says she is proud of what her students have achieved and how they jumped at the opportunity to test their skills.
"These students are really engaged. They drove the preparation for the competitions, and they put in a lot of additional hours outside of class."
Gina says these kind of competitions not only test students' cooking and baking skills against their peers, but they also help them build confidence.
"For me it was about seeing what the students can achieve, so that they can overcome other obstacles that might come their way. It was also an opportunity for them to do something outside of Whanganui."
Student Sophie Couper says the competition was a "crazy, stressful, and cool experience", after she spent three days baking and constructing her winning wedding cake.
Sophie has been running her own cake business for the past year, but the three-tier cake she entered in the competition is her biggest so far.
UCOL | Te Pūkenga students' results
Kataraina Hurinui
Gold medal and class winner - Pasta
Bronze Medal - Cupcakes
Alicia Te Mana
Gold medal and class winner – Soup
Merit award - Cheesecake
Sueanne Hasler
Gold medal and class winner - Cheesecake
Sophie Couper
Silver medal and class winner - Celebration Cake
Nicholas Hinga
Silver Medal - Soup
Bronze medal - Cheese Omelette
Isaac Chase-Whareaorere
Bronze medal- Cafe Breakfast
Duy Do
Bronze medal - Cafe breakfast
Gurkirat Singh
Bronze medal - Cheese Omelette