A team of cooking students from Margaret River’s South Regional Tafe campus headed to Manjimup over the weekend, where they worked in the kitchens for some of the festival’s headline chefs.
According to South Regional Tafe instructor Amanda Smith, the team of eight Certificate 3 and 4 students jumped straight into work at the busy festival, starting with Aaron Carr and Paul West’s Feast and Fire opening party.
“They then cooked at the Russell Blaikie Hunter’s breakfast and the Southern Forests barbecue feast with Amy Hamilton,” Ms Smith said.
“They also took part in a number of workshops during the weekend, so it really was a very full experience.”
Ms Smith said the students showed skill with the truffles and were not intimidated by the expensive delicacy, thanks to the school’s Gather and Feast luncheon program.
“Because we have been doing these pop up restaurants with Gather and Feast and learning about truffles, working with them and serving those dishes to diners, the students were a lot more relaxed and confident about working at the festival.
“The Gather and Feast events give our students the opportunity to experience real service, using local ingredients and learning more about the versatility of those ingredients.”
Ms Smith said the popular luncheon series, which combines produce from the Margaret River Farmers Market with the creative cooking skills of the Tafe students, will begin again next month.
“We are also looking forward to a collaboration with Paul ‘Yoda’ Iskov of Fervor on a bush food Gather and Feast event, focusing on native ingredients,” she said.
The Margaret River Farmers Market + South Regional Tafe ‘Gather and Feast’ fortnightly luncheons begin again on July 29.
For more info call 9780 5800 or email margaretriver@srtafe.wa.edu.au
Nicky Lefebvre
I am a journalist, photographer and content creator based in the beautiful Margaret River wine region, covering all aspects of our community including local news, sport, entertainment and events, as well as providing a platform for our readers to share their voices direct from regional Australia.
I am a journalist, photographer and content creator based in the beautiful Margaret River wine region, covering all aspects of our community including local news, sport, entertainment and events, as well as providing a platform for our readers to share their voices direct from regional Australia.
