Rotary Young Chefs Story                     Return to Home Page

Cooking up a storm at the Port of Mackay

The Rotary Club of Port of Mackay held their inaugural "Young Chefs" competition in mid-2003 culminating in the finals on 21st June 2003. Over 200 students from 9 local secondary schools (5 state and 4 private) in the Mackay district firstly vied for the chance to represent their school and then be amongst the 13 pairs in the finals to contest the Golden Frypan and be named Rotary Young Chefs for 2003.

Celebrity chef, Brad Jolly, from Alchemy restaurant and Bar in Brisbane (the only Australian to win a gold medal in the prestigious Culinary Olympics in Germany) was delighted with the enthusiasm of the students and the quality of their two course meals for two people with a budget of $20.00 (now $25.00). The kitchen at Mackay TAFE was buzzing with students chopping and shredding, mixing and marinating, sautéing and steaming - and the smells were enticingly good. Brad assessed the students on 17 criteria ranging from nutritional balance and imagination to taste and teamwork and judging the best was certainly a tough job.

The idea for Rotary Young Chefs came from a visit that POM Club President (2002-03), PP Dick Marshall, made to the Westminster East club in England. At that meeting Dick heard the Youth Competition Specialist speak on a similar competition held in District 1130. POM Youth Director, Geoff Catto, and team then discussed it with local Home Economics and Hospitality teachers and found that it was an area of stimulation and challenge not available to students in the Mackay area.

The competition was open to all students - not just those who studied cooking - and they enthusiastically jumped at the chance to display their culinary skills. This response along with the support from teachers, parents, ABC Tropical North Radio, TAFE and the Daily Mercury newspaper and sponsors such as Mighty Soft, Qantas, Skillshare Mackay, Ocean International Hotel and Hatfields Supermarket made the inaugural competition a huge success.

The competition now has a much greater regional focus with other clubs in outlying areas invited to take part by supporting the participation of the students in their towns. The Rotary Club of Port of Mackay doesn't plan to make it national just yet but the ingredients are all there!