A NEW GENERATION OF CULINARY ROCK STARS
Lyall Minhinnick, Fleurs Place, Moeraki; Sam Heaven, Park Hyatt Auckland; Ashley Knudsen, No.7 Balmac, Dunedin.
For twenty-five years, Beef + Lamb New Zealand have been making rock stars out of their Ambassador Chefs. Not only have these senior chefs been rocking it in the kitchen creating incredible food for their guests, but they have been telling the paddock to plate story using New Zealand beef and lamb in the most delicious and creative ways.
But what goes into making a culinary rock star? Beef + Lamb New Zealand decided to look to the next generation of young chefs to not only find out what makes them strive for excellence in their kitchens but to award a young chef as an Ambassador – the next generation culinary rock star!
The Beef + Lamb Young Ambassador Chef Award was then created – a competition to find that special young chef who is passionate about cooking with beef and lamb and who wants to take their career to new heights.
Three finalists had been whittled down from a pool of entries and invited to come to Auckland for a live cook-off. On a beautiful sunny autumn day, these three finalists came together at Peter Gordon’s Homeland, nestled in the heart of Auckland’s marina, to cook their dishes and battle it out for the prestigious title.
Our finalists arrived, prepped and ready to go, nervously shaking hands with each other and meeting the judges who would critique their dishes. The order of cooking was drawn and first up was finalist, Ashley Knudsen from No.7 Balmac in Dunedin.
It’s a double-edged sword going first – is it better to get it over and done with or would first up nerves take over?
Ashley is a farm girl and loves nothing better than to get out on the farm in her gumboots to hunt and forage and get inspiration for her cooking. She grew up on a farm in Westport with the aromas of roast lamb coming from the family kitchen which inspired her to pursue a career in cooking.
Ashley says she entered the competition to challenge herself and was encouraged to give it a go by her boss, Greg Piner, at No.7 Balmac who was fully supportive of her entering.
“My big thing is I want to keep learning and to push myself and have the opportunity to work with different chefs. I would say to other young chefs, dream big – I didn’t think I would get here; but always push harder and you will get there in the end.”
Each finalist had 90 minutes to cook and plate two of their beef and two of their lamb dishes. Despite early nerves and a small mistake, Ashley kept her cool and worked methodically staying focused and in her ‘zone’. Her meat cooking skills shone through and a collective sigh of relief was heard when she carved into her lamb rack to reveal its blushing pink interior – perfect!
With only seconds to spare she presented her dishes to the judges and says she hoped her flavour combinations would win their praises, especially her beef dish which was created as a taste of Dunedin using ingredients from the land and the sea.
“When I finished cooking it was an eye watering moment - my mum had a few tears and hugged me and my Dad had a huge smile on his face. It was so good to have my family there to support me.”
Next into the competition arena was Lyall Minhinnick from Fleurs Place in Moeraki. Lyall said he entered this competition to inspire Maori and Pasifika youth to dream big, push through barriers, and see past their circumstances. Born and raised in South Auckland, Lyall’s journey from working in Auckland to working as a chef in the tiny South Island town of Moeraki is a story in itself.
Lyall had travelled to Dunedin to attend a SIX60 concert with family and in their search for the best seafood restaurant had stumbled upon Fleurs Place in the tiny fishing village of Moeraki. The dining experience was so memorable that after the gig Lyall returned, applied for a job and the rest is history.
Lyall says making it to the finals has been one of the highlights of his career and attributes his success this far to his boss and mentor Fleur Sullivan. He says Fleur sees his passion and love of New Zealand food and herbs and how much he enjoys creating dishes that have a story behind them. It was her belief in him that spurred him on and having her and his family there on the competition day to support him was awesome.
When Lyall stepped up to the bench to cook, he knew he was mentally prepared, despite having never cooked in a competition before.
“To get ready for the day I had mentally prepared myself in my mind that everything is seasoned and flavoured and will be in the right place on the plate and that I can explain the story and the journey behind my dishes.”
Although he felt confident, he said the pressure did come on in the first part of his cook, but once he found his zone, he calmed down and was in his element cooking for the Beef + Lamb Ambassador Chefs. He says he thought he would smash his dishes out quickly but the time flew by and before he knew it there was only 15 minutes to go.
Lyall says he wanted the judges to notice the different techniques he had used with his foraged herbs, such as pickling and smoking them rather than simply using them as garnishes on the plate. He also hoped the care and delicate handling of the meat would show through.
“I think my passion and my love for cooking really showed on the plate and that’s what I wanted to show the chefs today. I hope they enjoyed the flavours and saw the story behind the dish – I loved cooking for them.”
The final competitor to cook was Sam Heaven from the Park Hyatt Auckland. Sam is no stranger to cooking competitions and said he felt he had his nerves in check. But even the most seasoned competitor can feel the heat and after his cook, Sam said he could have done with an extra pair of hands to help him plate up!
He had stretched himself with his style of dishes and their different components and was focused on serving his food hot to the judges. He says he really wanted to do justice to the amazing product he was working with and to ensure it lived up to the judge’s expectation.
Sam said he saw the competition as a great opportunity to continue to grow his career, especially during the difficulties of working through a pandemic.
“I know a lot of young chefs who are keen to travel overseas and that’s just not possible at the moment. I saw the competition as a chance for us young chefs to do something refreshing and to keep striving and growing our careers. To have a chance to take on a role as the first Young Ambassador Chef was an opportunity not to be missed.”
Sam turned to his homeland and childhood memories as inspiration behind his dishes, having grown up in the Hawkes Bay with the richness of so much produce grown around him, such as honey, olive groves and lamb.
He created a super luxurious beef dish with minimal wastage using a beautiful piece of Black Origin Wagyu. He made sure every part of the dish was touched with the wonderful beef flavour by using the off cuts to create beef salt and beef fats to lift the flavours of the dish to another level.
“I wanted the judges to notice how well thought-out my dishes were and how I had considered everything on the plate with highlight flavours and lowlight flavours and all the different components coming together to create an amazing eating experience.”
Sam says he wants to always be moving forward with his career and winning this competition would mean the opportunity to receive some excellent mentoring and have the opportunity to explore the whole journey from the paddock to the plate. To have this accolade and have all the extra knowledge that would come with it he says would be an excellent resource under his belt when it comes to a young New Zealand chef venturing out into the world.
At the end of the day, all three chefs excelled on the day and even though there can only be one winner, all three young chefs will continue to be embraced by the Beef + Lamb family. As head judge Norka Mella Munoz says, this has been a special opportunity for these young chefs to come to Auckland and compete. They have all been able to network and share their dishes and ideas with fellow chefs and this kind of networking is what really provides a good start for a young chefs career.