Caribbean Junior Duelling champs Neka André and Tessa Wilson pose with Chef Peter Edey.
The respective local and regiaonal junior chefs competitions provide good exposure for the young people involved.
In fact, Director of the Barbados Hospitality Institute at PomMarine Hotel, Bernice Critchlow-Earle speaking at the 2013 Awards Ceremony for Junior Duelling Challenge and the Caribbean Junior Duelling Challenge Competitions said it was a good supportive platform for tomorrow’s chefs.
“This competition and challenge was created in the spirit of supporting professional and cultural learning for tomorrow’s chefs. Such a gathering seems to promote global learning and prepares our chefs to be employed all over the world. I need to stress on this because tourism, just like culinary, are transient businesses.
“You shouldn’t stop one place all the time because it curtails your learning. By that I mean that you might even move to go on holiday or vacation – when you are in another country, seek out the culinary delicacies,” she advised.
St. Croix team Kaylisha Jarris (left) and Elle Abraham (centre) receive the prize for Best Media Presence from Loretta Skeete of the Caribbean Media Corporation.
The Director, who is also President of the Caribbean Tourism Education Alliance told the students when they went to vacations abroad to use the opportunity to visit other hotel schools, restaurants, reputed hotels to see what their kitchens and various environments were like.
“There is a world behind those doors and it really helps you to understand how other people are creating their recipes and food, putting it out etc. There are some places that won’t let you in and you know perhaps there is something wrong.
“I really believe that exposure of our region’s students will impact them professionally for the rest of their lives. You never experience these things again,” said Critchlow-Earle, advising teachers and other chefs to encourage their enthusiasm and interest.
She further commended the teachers, especially those in culinary economics, for their work, noting that traditionally home economics and culinary did not blend.
“It is good to see the blend that is taking place here is for the positive and I really believe that there is much respect given now to what happens in the schools before the students come to us and by us I mean the culinary colleges,” she said.
Second place in Junior Duelling Challenge 2013 was The St. Michael School duo of Marissa Mason (left) Danielle Deane (right), who made a presentation about their prize trip to Grenada.
In the Roberts Manufacturing Junior Duelling Challenge, the St. Leonard’s Boy’s School duo of Rashi Cummins and Rawle Sealy were the winners, ahead of Marissa Mason and Danielle Deane of The St. Michael School who came second and Cadijah Ward and Alena Craigg of Ellerslie Secondary who came third.
Most Improved Team went to the Daryll Jordan Secondary’s Brentnol Archibald and Shamar Griffith; Best Overall Presentation – Ward and Craigg of Ellerslie, while the winners of the Bryden Stokes Facebook Page Competition was the Springer Memorial A team of Tiara Harding and Ashley McClean.
In the Caribbean Junior competition – St. Lucia’s Neka Andr√ and Tessa Wilson emerged as winners, with Barbados’ Cummins and Rawle as runners up. Third place went to Elle Abraham and Kaylisha Jarris of St. Croix and Lashanna Paul and Wonuta Cupidore of Guyana were fourth.
Dominican duo Mitra Morancie and Zawadi Warner won Best Use of an Indigenous Product for their use of titiwi; the St. Lucians won Best Flavoured Dish; Innovative Use of Product, went to Edeion Hoyte and Steficia Richards of St. Vincent and the Grenadines for farine; Most Creative Dish was the Grenadians – Sydney Robertson and Arnel Waldron and the team with the Best Media Presence was St. Croix. The Spirit of the Competition award went to Elle Abraham of St. Croix.