Local Chef ‘Cooks Off’ to Win
Image: Earlier this month the state finalists were announced in the fifth annual Electrolux Appetite for Excellence competition. The NSW Young Chef winner was Ian Atkinson, who currently helps man the pans at Universal.
Earlier this month the state finalists were announced in the fifth annual Electrolux Appetite for Excellence competition. The NSW Young Chef winner was Ian Atkinson, who currently mans the pans at Universal. To gain his title, Ian was required to participate in a ‘cook off’ where he raced the clock (and other competitors) to present a main course to the esteemed judging panel. It must have been nerve-wracking because the panel included some of Australia’s leading chefs, including Tetsuya Wakuda and Peter Doyle!
Beyond being the toast of his current employer, Christine Mansfield, Ian wins an all expenses paid five day tour of Victoria’s food and wine regions where he will learn more about Australia’s horticulture, viticulture and emerging industries. I caught up with him briefly to ask about his plans as a restaurateur. His future restaurant would feature a menu with “a little bit of everything from all over the world,” Ian explains, he’s committed to “changing the menu daily with the best produce” he can source.
While Ian hails from the green pastures of the Emerald Isle, if you found yourself on a date with him, he’d probably cook you “a selection of sushi because it’s clean, raw and a bit strange coming from an Irish boy!” Well, it’s important to make an impression! When it comes to cooking at Universal, Ian is partial to one of the new dishes, “a prawn ceviche with palm sugar popcorn, green chilli salsa. It’s a wonderful little number with complex flavour and textures. The popcorn makes it, as it is a traditional ceviche garnish in South America, we just tweaked it with a little palm sugar and spice.” It certainly sounds like it’d be worth a visit to taste the products of his labour, but don’t pop by on the 29th June, 2009 because Ian will be busy showing off his skills in a mystery box cook-off for the national final. After that we all need to all bite our nails until the big announcement on the 10th August, 2009. Best of luck, Ian!
If you’d like more information on the Electrolux Appetite for Excellence, please visit: www.appetiteforexcellence.com
