St Sampson’s students get hands-on in the kitchen
St SAMPSON’S HIGH SCHOOL students took cooking up a level with their renditions of an Old Government House Hotel menu seasonal special.
The hotel’s executive chef Kevin Semple, who also works at another of The Red Carnation Hotel Collection’s hotels, the Duke of Richmond, came to test the students’ skills with a mackerel panzanella salad and lemon beurre blanc sauce – and was impressed by the talent on show.
Every class member got the chance to gut and fillet their own fish, caught earlier that day and donated by Surf & Turf, before being shown how to create the rest of their dish, which was later presented to Mr Semple for him to taste test and choose a winner.
Ben Mills, 15, who also visited the Duke of Richmond with the school earlier in the term, said it was a great opportunity to be a part of the cooking activities.
‘It’s great to do this and even though I don’t particularly want to go into hospitality, it’s great experience and something you still need as a life skill,’ he said.
‘We got to visit the hotel and were a given a tour of it, as well as watching them cook there and trying out some of the food they cook, such as squid ink risotto.’
Fellow student Adam Mechem, also 15, who eventually went on to win the taste test prize of a free milkshake at the new Street Cafe in the market building, said they had a great time when they visited the hotel, but today they would be able to get more involved.
‘We got to see them cook stuff there, now we’ll get to cut and fillet the fish, which will be different and not something you usually get to do,’ he said.
As the class jostled and joked and asked questions about the dish, the school’s food technician Tracy Park was persuaded to cut her own fish, to the delight of her students.
‘This is my favourite class,’ she said.
‘It’s good to have this banter with them, while also teaching them. Kevin’s really good at explaining that the dishes are more than cooking, they’re also experiments using chemistry.’
Mr Semple added that he really enjoyed coming to the school to teach the pupils, but also learn himself.
‘Some of the boys here are fishermen, they go out with their dads and catch fish themselves,’ he said.
‘So it’s been good to share that and hear from them, while also promoting the hospitality industry.’
