Winnings food for students' thoughts

Karena and Kasey Te Awa-Bird, MasterChef winners, recently visited Northland College.

Northland College students have had a surprise visit from sisters Kasey and Karena Te Awa-Bird, the winners of TV1's NZ MasterChef 2014.

Although the sisters call Maketu, in the Bay of Plenty, home, they were visiting family in the Far North, including their uncle, Northland College teacher Hunia (Dash) Te Awa.

The bubbly and engaging sisters had no trouble entertaining and inspiring an attentive audience of students and staff with stories from behind the scenes of the television series and details of their winnings.

They said the hardest aspect of their experience was living in a communal house with the other 28 contestants during the filming. Fortunately their room-mates were eliminated early on, which gave them some privacy and space. "If we weren't there together, I don't think either of us would have survived," they said.

Unlike many of the other entrants, Kasey, who was a full-time business student, and Karena, a quality co-ordinator for a Maori health trust, had no formal training but loved cooking for their large extended family and friends. They believe this, with their Maori culture, provided the authentic point of difference that led to their win.

Asked to describe themselves, Kasey said she was "focused, reliable and hungry", while Karena described herself as "witty, competitive and passionate".

They said they would practise complicated and unfamiliar dishes at home until they were perfect. They even prepared their Aunty Harriet (Nan) Neho's famous steamed pudding for one of the show's challenges and whenever they could they incorporated Maori ingredients and elements into their cooking.

The college students were particularly interested in the $100,000 worth of prizes the sisters won, which included two Skoda Rapid Spaceback cars, $15,000 worth of designer kitchen appliances, $5000 in kitchenware, $15,000 worth of groceries and an exclusive MasterChef cookbook deal.

Kasey confessed her appliances were still in the shed at home, waiting for her to have the plumbing sorted. Typically, the sisters shared the groceries vouchers among their extended whanau, just in time for Christmas.

So what is next? They would like to gain some professional experience working in the kitchens of one of the celebrity chefs they met during the show.

Eventually they plan to open a restaurant.

In the meantime, their first cookbook is due for release in the near future.