The difference between winning and losing is bringing home the silver, says the team from the Whanganui UCOL School of Catering and Hospitality. The team of trainee chefs Ziek Pittams-Hudson and Hinearo Te Tana, and trainee waiter Amber Rose Edwardson, out-cooked and out-served teams from eight other training institutions and hotelsthroughout the North Island to win the Ian McLennan Memorial Cup. In the two-and-a-half-hour contest, the trainee chefs prepared and served five identical portions of a three-course meal - soup, main course and dessert. The unassuming Mr Pittams-Hudson said he did not think about all the other people at the competition, but he was nervous about the judges. He did, however, "settle in quick". Ms Te Tana was "ecstatic and over the moon" with the team's win. "It was scary at the start and then it became fun." Both trainees attributed the win to the training given by chief lecturer Claude Baudet. Ms Edwardson said they "walked over the rest". She said front-of-house lecturer Carmel Hughes' theme of autumn that came through in the colours of the foods "was awesome". "The organiser of the event was at my table and he came and congratulated our team at the end of the competition," Ms Edwardson said. Ms Edwardson's team-mates were equally complimentary about her front-of-house skills, which towered above the other teams. Ms Hughes spoke about her time as a former student and the two teams she was in that entered previous competitions. "This is very very exciting and a first time for us. We did not get it when I was a student. This is very very cool." Mr Baudet said the competition was "very important". Ian MacLennan was a world-renowned chef who had motor neuron disease, Mr Baudet said. "Ian died in his late 30s. He was an ambassador of cuisine." PICTURED: CREME DE LA CREME: Whanganui UCOL School of Catering and Hospitality trainee chefs Ziek Pittams-Hudson and Hinearo Te Tana, and trainee waiter Amber Rose Edwardson with chief lecturer Claude Baudet, and front-of-house lecturer Carmel Hughes, and the students' impressive Ian MacLennan Memorial Cup.
