Ex-Workies chef Aaron Engeler has once again proved his master-chef skills as he has gone on to win the Jeunes Chefs Rotisseurs Competition Australia on Saturday, April 7 in Melbourne.
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Mr Engeler previously won the NSW competition and was awarded the bronze medal and a chance to compete in Melbourne.
Winning the Australian competition means he will be travelling to Taiwan to compete against international chefs.
To win the top prize Mr Engeler created an entree of seared Murray cod with butter-poached yabbies, shiitake and ginger broth, dill corn and wild rice.
His main course was lamb backstrap with cauliflower puree, charred eggplant, butter braised fennel, parisienne zucchini, fried kale, fennel fronds and lamb jus, while his desert was an orange and chocolate ganache, thyme compressed logan berries, poached strawberries, macadamia crumb and greek yoghurt snow.
The competition was tight, with the eight competitors split by only 12 points between them at the end of the day.
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“I’m pretty sure everyone starts with 150 points and then you lose points for things and whoever has the most at the end wins,” Mr Engeler said.
“The guy who came second beat me by one point in the kitchen but I beat him by two or three points in the food.”
Mr Engeler lost two half points because he had two knives on the chopping board while trying to wash his other knives as he went.
Ingredients that were compulsory to use were murray cod, yabbies, corn, wild rice, lamb, eggplant, fennel and strawberries.
“I was lucky, the mystery box was almost the same as the mystery box in Sydney so I used the same game plan and it worked,” he said.
Mr Engeler said that he wasn’t expecting to win and was shocked when his name was called.
I was always just thinking, ‘anything after this is just a bonus’,
- Aaron Engeler
Mr Engeler said the support he has received has been incredible, especially from family, friends and colleagues.