When Jacq Campbell started the Murray River Culinary Championships 17 years ago, she never could’ve envisioned it would still be happening or that a television show would rip off her idea.
“Nobody had come up with that concept yet, so I wish I called it Masterchef,” she said.
“Missed the boat on that one.”
As a former hospitality trainer with a lifetime of experience in the industry, Ms Campbell identified a lack of a practical component to hospitality studies in her Echuca-Moama region.
“They were learning but not getting any experience,” she said.
“I wanted there to be an opportunity for students to have a real-life kitchen experience as if they were working in the industry.”
Ms Campbell started planning a cooking competition for students in the region judged by and put on in collaboration with local culinary industry heavyweights.
Like a young Sylvester Stallone, Ms Campbell preached her dream to anyone who would listen.
Goulburn Murray Local Learning and Employment Network (GMLLEN) eventually took her idea and ran with it, and brought together a cooking competition between schools across the region for the first time in 2006.
They managed to get famous chef Stefano De Pieri as a judge and attached his well-respected name to the project to get the competition off the ground.
From there, the cake’s kept rising.
“Did I imagine it would still be going this far along?” Ms Campbell said.
“No, I probably didn’t, I’m just pleased it is.
“It creates a great vibe for the students, it’s exciting and they get so well supported because there’s a whole lot of people from the schools to the parents that help the students get in the kitchen.”
After a delay due to the pandemic and floods, Shepparton has finally been able to exercise its hosting rights for the grand final as the reigning champions from the last time the competition was on in 2019.
While everyone had been keen to get the competition up and running again, a bonus of the delay is that GOTAFE’s Shepparton campus on Fryers St has a top-of-the-line commercial kitchen fit for the occasion.
GOTAFE commercial cookery trainer Jessica Rae said the kitchen, about a year old, gave the students the experience of a fully operational commercial kitchen.
“The Shepparton GOTAFE students actually serve paying customers from this kitchen during the week, so it’s a great asset and experience for everyone,” she said.
“It’s great to be able to open up our doors, open up our kitchen, so the local and extended community can come and use our facilities.”
This year, 15 regional schools took part in the competition, featuring enthusiastic Year 10 and 11 students from various regions of the state, all keen on pursuing a culinary career.
The menus are all curriculum-related and line up with student outcomes, meaning the students get to participate in the event and receive credits for their efforts.
Through a knock-out stage, 15 schools became three and the stage was set for a thrilling and mouth-watering grand final.
On Monday, September 11, teams from Echuca College, Swan Hill’s St Mary MacKillop College and Sheparton’s Notre Dame College cooked in the GOTAFE kitchen.
And a new winner was crowned, as Echuca College, represented by Kate Durrant and Lochie Patience, took home the trophy.
Event organiser Abbey Monk said it was an excellent opportunity for students to mix with the local chefs who judge the competition.
She said many of the students go on to do apprenticeships with the judges.
“We’ve got a lot of industry partners and chefs here today for the students to mix with and gain insight from,” Ms Monk said.
“Sometimes hospitality is left out a little bit when we think of industry experience, so it’s good to showcase the student’s skills and talents.
“These are going to be our future chefs in restaurants.
“We always need people cooking our food, and everyone here is proud to support them.”