Michelle Burling-Claridge, the 21-year-old Wellingtonian, has been selected to represent New Zealand in the IIHM Young Chef Olympiad for 2023. Chefs from 50 countries will fly to India to compete in the first in-person competition in two years. They are judged on multiple factors, including the ability to cook with given ingredients in a specific timeframe, creativity of a dish, taste, and the utilisation of pre-selected ingredients.
Burling-Claridge is a student at Whitireia and WelTec (Te Pūkenga), and she will be attending the competition with her tutor, Frank Prskawetz.
“It is just awesome news, and it doesn’t yet feel quite real to me! I am so excited to go to India as I have only ever travelled as far as Australia before. It will be incredible to meet other upcoming chefs, and the competition will be a good test of pressure. But of course, so many things can go wrong when you are cooking, so I am a bit nervous about that! But Frank has trained me so well and taught me great new techniques, so I feel confident,” said Burling-Claridge.
“This is really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as there is only one young chef selected from each of the 50 participating countries. We have been practising preparing dishes from pre-selected ingredients to help get Michelle used to this format. She is a very well-rounded chef, having done both cookery and bakery through WelTec, so I am sure she will do well,” said Prskawetz.
The young chef currently works at the Hippopotamus restaurant in the QT Hotel in Wellington and hopes to one-day work overseas and travel.
The IIHM Young Chef Olympiad 2023 starts on January 29th.
