A young Raglan chef has been named as a finalist in the country’s premier vegetarian cooking competition.
Adam Thorley-Symes is up against two other chefs in the breakfast/brunch category of New Zealand Vegetarian Dish Challenge, a contest now in its fifth year and which typically attracts about 200 entries nationwide.
The 24 year old will know next month – when the winners of the three categories are announced – how he has fared with his dish of “beetroot and tofu tian, pressed kumara, herb puree, hazelnut, quince & figs”.
Tofu’s been included in the competition’s ingredients list for the first time this year, along with falafel and vegetarian bean sausages.
Head judge Mark Wylie, culinary services manager at Compass Group, says there were “some fantastic innovative uses of the new ingredients together with an imaginative and contemporary approach to vegetables”.
Adam, who is working at The Shack, returned to Raglan in April after two years as a chef at a chain of three luxury lodges – Kauri Cliffs at Matauri Bay, Matakauri Lodge in Queenstown and The Farm at Cape Kidnappers.
All finalists in the vegetarian dish challenge receive an excellence award plaque, while each winner gets a special dish, a semi-commercial microwave and a mystery weekend voucher worth $1200.
