A passion for cooking and a desire to learn new skills in the kitchen has helped Napier Boys’ High School student Benjamin Sepulveda Mella win a coveted prize.
The 15-year-old wowed judges in last month’s National Secondary Schools Culinary Challenge ‘at-home competition’ – taking out week 3 in the year 9-11 category.
But his success did not stop there, as he won one of four overall merit prizes.
Sepulveda Mella said he believed in himself and hoped he would win. He is simply proud.
Hosted by the Culinary Arts Development Trust, Covid-19 caused this year’s eight regional competitions and grand final to be cancelled but provided an opportunity for the four-week online competition for secondary students.
Each week’s winners received a $100 supermarket voucher. Students were able to compete in either the year 9-11 or 12-13 groups. The competition received 72 entries over 4 weeks.
In a statement, the Culinary Arts Development Trust said the engagement and response from secondary school students were “outstanding”.
“Students jumped at the chance to showcase their culinary skills in the comfort of their own home.”
Sepulveda Mella’s winning dish consisted of zucchini feta fritters, potato paprika wedges, roasted garlic tomatoes, homemade mayonnaise, and baby cos.
Despite having never made the fritters or baby cos before, the young chef said it was “quite easy to make” and took about an hour.
The competition required each student to enter a savoury dish featuring three fresh or frozen NZ grown vegetables. Each student had to submit their entry form, recipe, video demonstration and photograph of their finished dish.
“My mum and I were brainstorming ideas and I thought why not use some of NZ’s most used vegetables like the zucchini, potato, tomato and the lettuce,” Sepulveda Mella said.
He said he liked the way he cooked the wedges and thought it would pair well with the mayo and fritters.
Year 10 Napier Boys’ High School student Benjamin Sepulveda Mella won week 3 of the National Secondary Schools Culinary Challenge ‘at-home competition’ with his zucchini feta fritters, potato paprika wedges, roasted garlic tomatoes, homemade mayonnaise, and baby cos.
Sepulveda Mella also drew on his Chilean roots by cooking a traditional Chilean chicken casserole with peas and creamy mash for the fourth and final week of the competition.
Chief Judge Mark Wylie said the merit prizes were awarded on a discretionary basis by the judging panel to recognise outstanding entries outside of the weekly winners.
“Benjamin submitted a very high-quality entry that met the criteria. The judging panel commended him for the advanced culinary skills that he showed in both his recipe and accompanying video.
“He was able to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the products that he was using by producing a restaurant-quality meal.”
He said it was a “great effort by someone that clearly has the talent to pursue a culinary career”.
For his prize, he will receive a Meat + Three cookbook, Chiller lunch bag and a vegetables.co.nz apron.
The year 10 student is no stranger to the kitchen. His mum, Norka Mella Munoz, is the head chef at Mangapapa Hotel, while his dad, Marcelo Sepulveda Pena is the executive chef at Mantells in Auckland and his stepdad Glen Verner is the head chef at The Station Bar & Bistro in Napier.
He cooks about four times a week and bakes cakes and cookies too. The up-and-coming chef has dreams of one day owning a Michelin star restaurant in Europe.
“I have it in my blood and it is a passion that I want to pursue”.
In the meantime, he has his sight set on entering any competition that comes up this year. But more importantly, he wants to win next year’s competition.
Secondary Students will have another chance to compete and showcase their culinary skills in the July school holidays.
For more information about the trust and the competition initiatives visit www.nsscc.nz
