Apprentice chefs at Bega TAFE graduated in tasty fashion on Monday night.
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Around 50 chefs, restaurant owners and industry supporters from across the Sapphire Coast celebrated their apprentices at the TAFE Illawarra Bega campus’s annual “Industry Night” at The Barracks restaurant.
The second year commercial cookery students planned and prepared a scrumptious degustation menu for guests, with accompanying matched wines - from braised pork belly “hotdogs” and champagne on arrival, through to a deconstructed popcorn-infused ice-cream sundae and botrytis semillon for dessert.
Bega TAFE Tourism and Hospitality head teacher Deirdre Jory welcomed guests and thanked the Sapphire Coast’s industry reps for their ongoing support.
“Being a rural area is not a disadvantage - it’s an advantage because we really care about our students and our food,” she said.
Guest speaker for the night was Neil Abrahams, Australian Culinary Federation president, who spoke about his time in the industry and the benefits to budding chefs on offer via the federation..
“To have great culinary students you need great teachers, passionate and dedicated teachers,” Mr Abrahams said during his address while guests polished off braised beef cheeks with Cafe d’ Paris butter.
“And while Bega may seem like a small fish in a big pond, really it’s not the case.
“Chefs here have the same networking opportunities as everyone else and then they can come back and share those experiences because that’s what grows the industry.
“Experiences - that’s what we do.”