T
he huge success of this year’s Mini
MasterChef competition held at
school was incredibly rewarding for all
who took part. Many boys have now
developed a love of cooking and are
trying out their new-found skills in their
kitchens at home. Several boys surprised
themselves on howmuch they could
actually achieve when they put their mind
to the task.
420 boys entered the King’s Mini
MasterChef competition and brought
with them an incredible enthusiasm,
competitiveness, and a little fear, as they
took on their classmates, cooking under the
famous competition time pressure.
In the Dining Room you could sense the
tension as the boys made their way to the
six benches laden with cooking utensils,
campfire burners, aprons, bandanas and
trays ready to be filled with gourmet
ingredients from the pantry. New Zealand
MasterChef finalist,Vanessa Baxter herself
explained the challenges to the boys and
then came the famous announcement: “Your
time starts now!” Soon the room was filled
with the sounds of knives chopping and
frying pans sizzling as each cook prepared
their own creation.
“Five minutes to go!” Vanessa exclaimed
and Mr Elliott reminded everyone to, “Think
about plating up soon”.
“10, 9, 8...3, 2, 1! Step away from your
benches!”
And then it was over to the judges to decide
which was the best dish based on flavour,
creativity, presentation and originality.
Winners were acknowledged by the judges,
but all the boys left the Dining Room filled
with a sense of real accomplishment and
pride with what they had produced. After
the winners had been selected for each
heat, and then semi-finals, there emerged
4 talented finalists who would seek the
ultimate prize at the Grand Final on Friday
8th June. Those boys were Harjodh Singh,
Noel Marange, Mackenzie Langrell Read and
Louis Ralph.
We were very fortunate to have celebrity
chefs, Simon Gault, Sean Armstrong and
Paula Saengthian-Ngam come to the Grand
Final and judge the culmination of our
competition. This time the cooking
benches were set up in the JR Fletcher
Memorial Hall and the finalists were to cook
infront of the whole school! To give it an
added dimension, TVNZ’s “Sam the Weather
Man” was broadcasting live from the school
that morning beaming the footage across
the nation!
In the end, Harjodh Singh emerged as
the King’s School MasterChef with his
near perfect omelette, Simon Gault
enthusiastically complimenting all the boys
on the very high standard of their cooking.
The whole Mini MasterChef competition
would not have happened had it not
been for the energy and huge time that
Vanessa Baxter put into the two weeks of
competition. Not only was it great fun for
every boy, it has also served to provide the
boys with a keen interest and appreciation
of food, the preparation of meals and the
ingredients that go into them.
LiamHeron, Yannik Wikramanayake,
Kentaro Johnson
MasterChef
Min
010
