Video – Day 3

And the final look inside the kitchen during the last night of “What’s cooking with the Steamers.”

Video – Day 2

And another peek behind the scenes of the Steamers in the kitchens:

Video – Day 1

A bit from behind the scenes of the first Day of “What’s cooking with the Steamers”.

Lights, Camera, Action

It was more than alright on the night when the Mighty Steamers wowed partners, friends and invited guests with their new-found cooking skills.

A tasty hapuka fish (fresh off the Sanfords fishing boats) parcel cooked with onions, leeks and white wine kicked off the meal, followed by char-grilled chicken breasts (courtesy of the Aussie Butcher) served on a bed of freshly made papardelle and baby green beans, and rounded out by a mouth-watering apple tarte tartin with a crème anglaise sauce.

The boys’ antics off the field certainly impressed the guests, including Rugby Sevens legend, Gordon Tietjens, Karl Te Nana from Sky TV’s rugby channel and local man Neil Forrester who won the ‘dinner with the steamers’ promotion.

Special thanks have to go to the Polytech students who helped make the night run smoothly by assisting in the kitchen – and it was school holidays! Thanks heaps guys .

Awards for the evening went to:

Masters of Pasta - jointly awarded to Captain Colin Bourke and Jason Hona

King of Knives - John Pareanga

Dishwasher Extraordinaire - Nick McCashin

Chief Tarte (Maker) - Phil Burleigh

Biggest Guns - Ted Tauroa

Best Waiter - Joe Savage

Footage from Monday night’s dinner will be screen on ‘Friday Night Football Live’ with Ian Jones on Sky’s Rugby Channel this Friday 2nd October between 6.30 and 7.30pm and also on Sky Sport 1 from 7.00 to 7.30pm (just before the BOP Steamers play Hawke’s Bay at Rotorua!). It will then be screened again on the ‘Rugby Centre’ programme on Wednesday 7th October on Sky’s Rugby Channel from 7.30 to 8.30pm and repeated on Sky throughout next week.

Check back on the Poly Blog later in the week to check out the video footage!

Photos from the Big Night

Have a look at more “What’s Cooking with the Steamers” Photos on Flickr.

Serving the entree

Interesting!

A kilometer of pasta...

Gotta clean up too

More Photos on Flickr.

Tonight’s the night…

… the Steamers will show off what they learned in the last couple of weeks. Watch out for photos and video tomorrow. And you’ll hear from our competition winners.

Exercise wars – pie vs banana

Eating before exercise is absolutely essential!

What happens if I exercise on an empty stomach e.g. before breakfast?

Exercise on an empty stomach means your body has to break down your precious muscle to make carbohydrates (carbs).

Why?

The body needs some carbs before you can burn your fats for fuel (fat burns in a carbohydrate flame).

This means the body takes longer to repair muscles and recover from exercise -you feel tired and sore…

This also means your metabolism slows down as a result of burning your muscle. Long term, this means you need LESS calories each day as your muscle size decreases, and therefore you store more fat!

What should I eat?

Carbohydrates!! These are the number one fuel for the body.

Choose carbs you like, are familiar with, low in fibre (white vs wholegrain), not spicy, not gas-forming and easily digested.

You need to practice eating before training to train this routine for your body.

Eat a main meal 2-3 hours before exercise (e.g. pasta or rice dish), a small meal 1 hour before training (e.g. sandwiches, filled rolls or a bagel), or a light snack (e.g. banana) 30 min before.

But I fancy a mince and cheese pie – what would happen if I ate a pie before I exercised?

The pie eaten 2 hours before exercise is only partly digested- so still sitting in your stomach when you start exercising…

Which means your once tasty mince & cheese pie is now a gas-forming pie-soup causing burping and flatulence .

As the pie is made up of fats and protein (not carbs), the body is forced to break down your muscle to make the carbs it needs, so you can use your substantial fat stores as fuel!!

By Tracey Clissold, Bay of Plenty Polytechnic Aquatic Centre Manager and Academic Staff Member Sport and Recreation

Apple Tarte Tatin with Crème Anglaise Sauce

Apple Tarte Tatin
Serves 6

6 medium apples, peeled, cored and halved, sprinkled with lemon juice and put in fridge
120g butter
200g sugar
250g puff pastry
Pinch flour

Method
Evenly grease the base of the frying pan with the butter, cover with the sugar, then arrange the apples, rounded side down, on the bottom of the pan. Lay the puff pastry over the apples and rest for at least 20 minutes. Set the pan over a high heat and caramelise the apples, then cook in a preheated oven at 220˚C for 20 minutes. When cooked, immediately turn over onto a plate and serve.

 

 

Crème Anglaise Sauce (Vanilla Custard Sauce)
Serves 10

6 egg yolks
120g caster sugar
500ml cream
2 vanilla pods, split

Method
Boil cream with vanilla. Mix eggs and sugar until pale and then add boiled cream very slowly. Mix well and place over a pan of boiling water, stirring continuously until the mixture thickens.

Recipe by Peter Blakeway

Papardelle with Char-Grilled Chicken & Green Beans

Serves 2

1 x 200g chicken breast, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1½ garlic cloves, finely sliced
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 batch tagliatelle (see ‘speedy pasta’ recipe above)
1 tablespoon olive oil
100g baby green beans, topped (not tailed) and sliced from end to end on the diagonal
65ml (¼ cup) chicken stock
Good quality parmesan cheese, grated
25g basil leaves

Method
Place the chicken, EVO oil and garlic in a bowl and stir to combine. Season with salt & pepper. Cook pasta in a large pot of rapidly boiling salted water until ‘al dente’ and drain well. Meanwhile, 5 minutes before pasta is cooked, place a large frying pan over a high heat until hot. Add olive oil and heat for 5 seconds. Add chicken with marinade and sear quickly for 30 seconds. Add beans and reduce heat to medium. Cook for another 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Return heat to high, add the stock and simmer for 30 seconds. Add pasta and toss to combine.

Divide pasta evenly between two bowls and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese, basil and freshly ground black pepper.

Recipe by Peter Blakeway

Meet: Wayne Hughson

Wayne learning to make pasta

24 year old Wayne hails from neighbouring Rotorua and was a former St Pauls Collegiate old boy. Into golf, touch rugby, surfing and nights out with the boys, Wayne lists his favourite book as Hairy McClary from Donaldson’s Dairy – but only when read by fellow team mate Colin Bourke.

The worst job Wayne’s ever had was grubbing weeds for his dad, while he credits the best advice given to him by his mum as “drink water, it’s better for you”. Allegedly his favourite movie is The Notebook (yeah right) and says that if he was made Prime Minister, he’d cut taxes and build himself a sweet house on the coast.

Wayne was player of the week last week

Fish “En Papillote” with Tapenade

Serves 2

2 fish fillets, e.g. blue nose, swordfish
½ onion
½ leek
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp tapenade
2 tomatos, sliced
Handful flat leaf parsley, chopped roughly
Lemon juice & zest
1 cup white wine

Method
Put fish with onions, leeks, garlic, tomatos and flavourings in two parcels of tin foil. Place on a hot baking sheet and bake at 230˚C for 10-12 minutes.

Recipe by Peter Blakeway

Monday’s Menu

A three course dinner to be cooked by the Bay of Plenty Steamers and served to their partners and guests in the Atrium Restaurant at Bay of Plenty Polytechnic.

Entrée	Fish en Papillote (Fish in a Parcel)
Main	Papardelle Pasta with Char-Grilled Chicken Served with Focaccia
Dessert	Apple Tart Tatin Served with Crème Anglaise (Vanilla Custard Sauce)

Check back, the recipes will be posted in the next couple of days. Why not get together some friends and try out this menu. Let us know how your dinner party went!

Bruschetta & Tomato Salsa

Bruschetta
Sliced sourdough or rustic bread
Extra virgin olive oil
Peeled garlic cloves, cut in half
1 ripe tomato

Method
Char-grill bread, brush with olive oil and rub garlic over surface until flavour is absorbed. Serve with tomato salsa.

 

 

Tomato Salsa
2 de-seeded and finely chopped red chillies
2tsp chopped fresh coriander
6 tomatoes de-skinned, deseeded and diced
2 tbsp Thai fish sauce
Pinch salt
Zest & juice 1 lime

Method
Place all ingredients in a bowl, mix well and leave at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to let the flavours develop. Serve with bruschetta.

Roasted Red Peppers

So easy! – Serves 2

2 red peppers
4 medium plum tomatoes, skinned and quartered
4 anchovy fillets
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Basil leaves to garnish

Method
Cut peppers in half and remove seeds, leaving stalks intact. Lay peppers on an oiled roasting tray and put the quartered tomatoes in them. Sprinkle with chopped anchovies and sliced garlic. Drizzle olive oil over each pepper and season with black pepper. Place on a high shelf in a pre-heated oven at 180˚C for 30 minutes. Garnish with basil and serve.

* These peppers can also be whizzed in a blender to make a delicious sauce to be served with pasta.

Recipe by Peter Blakeway

Photos from Day 2

Have a look at more “What’s Cooking with the Steamers” Photos on Flickr.

Yep, good!

Bay of Plenty Polytechnic chef Andrew Target shows how its done

Mike Delaney turns it up

More Photos on Flickr

The Second Half…

John the Grinder Moore & Mark Burman

 

Coming back for a second week of sweating it out in the Polytech kitchens were the mighty Steamers, including injured forward Nick McCashin who got the dubious honour of being bestowed the award of “Taking One for the Team” after hobbling gamely around the kitchen with his injured ankle.

Other star line outs included Wayne Hughson who was named Player of the Week for his performance in the kitchen. Andrew Targett commented “Wayne’s attentiveness, willing to learn and ability to follow instructions meant he was all over the other players and the award goes to the best man on the night.”

Joe Savage shows how's its done

Also earning a mention was cooking-newcomer John Moore. The lanky 1.98m lock was awarded the “Try Hardest” Award after forgoing the use of the pasta machine (Joe was hogging it) and hand rolling his pasta sheets. Also on the pasta bandwagon was Captain Joe Savage who earned the title of “Grinder” after his efforts cranking the pasta machine handle. Russell Coutts will be knocking down John’s door in no time once the word is out – and girls, check out those biceps!

Finally, “Best Knife” was awarded to John Pareanga for the second week in a row after he made short work of preparing a delicious salsa.

Hopefully all the boys’ efforts will pay off next Monday night when they’re tasked with cooking for family and friends (and one lucky local family!) at the Polytech’s Atrium training restaurant and kitchen.

Stay tuned for more updates from the boys and don’t be shy, leave a comment for your favourite Steamer!

John Moore, Mike Delaney, Nick McCashin love that pasta

Tagliatelle alla Carbonara

Serves 5

150g pancetta, cut into matchsticks
½ tbsp olive oil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
4 egg yolks
90ml double cream
110g freshly grated parmesan
200g fresh tagliatelle

Method
In a large pan, fry the pancetta in olive oil slowly until crisp. Add black pepper. Beat egg yolks with the cream and season. Add half the parmesan. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a generous amount of boiling salted water, and then drain thoroughly.

Combine immediately with the hot pancetta and then pour in the cream mixture. Stir to coat each pasta piece (the heat from the pasta will cook the eggs slightly). Finally add remaining parmesan and serve.

Recipe by Peter Blakeway

Fresh Tomato Sauce

Makes 1 litre
500g ripe tomatoes, cored, seeded and roughly sliced
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Method
Put tomato, onion and garlic with oil in a saucepan. Cook over a moderate heat for about 15 minutes. When tomato and onion are soft, press everything through the coarsest disc of a food mill. Season to taste.

 

 

Quick Pasta with Garlic & Rocket

Toss a sliced garlic clove, good quality parmesan cheese, rocket leaves or fresh parsley and good extra virgin olive oil with hot pasta.

Recipe by Peter Blakeway

Photos from Day 1

Have a look at more “What’s Cooking with the Steamers” Photos on Flickr.

Colin Bourke & Luke Braid making Risotto

BoPPoly chef Andrew Targett explaining some of the finer details.

Simon Fathers says: "Yum, smells nice"

More Photos on Flickr

Focaccia

Makes 2 x 10 servings:
1 sachet fast action yeast
680ml warm water
1 -2 tablespoons extra water if required
1kg high grade white flour, plus extra for dusting
20g finely ground sea salt
1 teaspoon caster sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for brushing
Leaves from 2 sprigs rosemary
75ml extra virgin olive oil
Coarse sea salt

Method
In a bowl, whisk the yeast and water until the yeast has dissolved. Stir in 500g flour, cover and leave in a warm place for 2 hours. Put remaining flour, salt, sugar, oil and yeast mix in an electric mixer with a dough hook and mix at the lowest speed, working for 7 minutes. Increase to full speed for 1 minute and turn out onto a floured surface.

Shape into a ball, place in a large bowl, cover and leave to treble in size. Knock back and split into two. Press out into two rectangles on oiled baking trays, cover with a cloth and leave to rise for 1 hour. With tips of fingers, poke the surface and sprinkle with rosemary, oil and salt. Bake in a preheated oven at 250˚C for 10 minutes then turn down to 200˚C for 15 minutes. Cool, cut and serve.

Recipe by Peter Blakeway

Speedy (fresh) Pasta

Fresh Tagliatelle

 

Serves 2
200g pasta ‘00’ flour
2 eggs or 4 egg yolks

Method
Sieve flour into a bowl. Add whole egg and combine mixture with finger tips. Turn out onto a floured work surface and knead into a dough. If possible, rest in refrigerator for at least half an hour. Roll out onto floured board into a rectangle. Next, flour surface of pasta and, using both hands, roll rectangle into a ‘swiss roll’ shape. Use a sharp knife to cut into desired thickness, e.g. tagliarini (thin), (medium) or parpadelle (thick).

Recipe by Peter Blakeway

The Good, the Bad and the Downright Ugly

We’re constantly bombarded in the press about fat – some fats are depicted as nasty, heart-attack causing fats, while others are applauded as ways to keep us young by boosting hair, skin and cell rejuvenation.

So, what are the bad fats?

Saturated Fatty Acids are the bad fats. These are mainly found in animal fats – both the white stuff in meet, as well as cheese, butter and full-fat milk – but are also found in coconut and palm oil. They’re often linked to increased risks of heart disease and obesity.

What the are good fats?

These fall into two categories – monounsaturated (olive oil) and polyunsaturated. Unsaturated fats are good for lowering cholesterol in the blood, decreasing high blood pressure and decreasing many chronic diseases.

And the ugly?

Now, this is where it gets confusing. The so-called good fats can turn into really ugly fats if you’re not careful. When heated to smoking point, any oil (whether it’s your expensive extra virgin olive or Pams canola) will lose its natural antioxidants and begin to accumulate free radicals and other cancer causing substances.

Whether this causes cancer in humans has not been proven, but it’s highly unlikely that you’d ingest enough “burnt offerings” to cause long term harm. If you’re cooking at high temperatures (like on the BBQ), consider using Rice Bran Oil or Peanut oil.

 

All Fats Are Not The Same!

There are two types of fats:

1. Saturated Fatty Acids
= “bad fats”

• Are mainly found in animal fats
  (ie. Fat in meat, chicken fat/ skin, cheese, butter, full-fat milk)
• Also found in coconut and palm oil
• Are usually solid at room temperature
• Are linked with increased risk of heart disease, and obesity.

2. Unsaturated Fatty Acids
= “good fats”

• There are two kinds of unsaturated fats: Monounsaturated (olive oil) and Polyunsaturated (omega 3 & 6- fish and flaxseed oil)
• Are usually liquid at room temperature (= oils)
• Unsaturated fats are good for lowering cholesterol in the blood, decreasing high blood pressure, and decreasing risk of many chronic diseases.

Check out the fat content of different types of milk:

Milk Type	Total Fat (per cup = 250ml)	Calories
Full fat milk	8 grams (= about 2 tsp fat!!)	150
2% Fat (“Active”)	4.7 grams	122
Low fat milk (1%)	2.6 grams	102
Skim Milk (“Fat free”)	<0.5 grams	80
“Calci-Plus”	0.26 grams (= about 1/5 tsp fat)	140

By Tracey Clissold, Bay of Plenty Polytechnic Aquatic Centre Manager and Academic Staff Member Sport and Recreation

Easy Risotto

Risotto with Chicken

 

The main point to remember when making risotto is that any liquid that you use, whether it is stock, wine or cream, should be boiling hot before you add it to the rice. This will stop your risotto from “clumping”.

 

 

For 2 – 3 main servings:
1 cup risotto rice
2½ cups stock, boiling
½ onion or 2 shallots, chopped
1 – 2 cloves garlic, chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
100 ml white wine
Salt and pepper
Parmesan, grated
Extra hot stock, olive oil or butter

Method
Heat the wine gently (and saffron, if using). In another large pan, heat a little olive oil and sweat the “soffrito” slowly – garlic, onion and any other root vegetable being used (e.g. carrot, leek). Add the rice and heat through for 1 – 2 minutes (called toasting). Add wine and allow to reduce. Add the boiling stock all at once, bring back to the boil and add seasoning. Cover and simmer for 15 – 18 minutes.
Add flavourings, rest for a few minutes and then stir through parmesan, a little extra stock, gently heated cream, extra virgin olive oil or butter – the amount depends on how ‘allonde,’ or creamy, you like your risotto.

Suggested additions:

• Porcini: Soak 15g porcini in 250ml warm water for at least 20 minutes. Strain and use some of the stock in risotto. Add sliced porcini at half way point. Add heated cream at the end, along with parmigiano and chopped Italian parsley. Drizzle with truffle oil.
• Smoked Mushrooms: As above, but use smoked mushrooms instead of porcini.
• Smoked Salmon: Add chopped leek to the initial ‘soffrito’. Before adding parmesan, add chopped, cooked Aoraki Smoked Salmon.
• Chorizo & Saffron: Add a pinch of crushed saffron to the wine/stock and, before you add the parmesan at the end, fold through 2 cooked, chopped chorizo sausages.
• Pumpkin: Cook cubed pumpkin slowly in EVO with garlic and some red wine and add with the parmesan.
• Lamb, Feta & Capers: Add 1 – 2 seared lamb fillets, marinated in Balsamic Vinegar and Olivo Infused Olive Oil (Lemon or Porcini) plus 2 tablespoon salted capers, soaked and rinsed and 100g cubed Creamy Feta.

Recipe by Peter Blakeway

Fillet of Beef/Pork/Lamb/Venison

Medium rare beef

Method
To tenderise the meat, rub it with oil, cover and refrigerate overnight. Next day, allow to sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour. Place on a lightly buttered tray and salt the surface. Roast in a preheated oven at 230˚C. Place on the middle shelf and cook for 1 minute per 25g plus 5 minutes extra, turning oven down to 200˚C after 20 minutes. Allow to rest before serving.

Beef

Core temperature for MEDIUM RARE	46˚C
Core temperature for MEDIUM	55˚C

Pork

Core temperature

70˚C

Lamb

Core temperature for VERY RARE	50˚C
Core temperature for MEDIUM RARE	56˚C
Core temperature for MEDIUM	62˚C
Core temperature for WELL DONE	75˚C

Venison

Core temperature for RARE

55˚C

Recipe by Peter Blakeway

Thanks

A big thanks to the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic Hospitality students who helped out on Monday, Louise Deane, Tony Caudwell, Mark Pickles, Tabitha Powell and Karlene Stroobant.

Basic stocks

Chicken Stock
2 skinless and fatless chicken carcasses
2 peppercorns
1 small carrot
1 bay leaf
1 medium leek
1 sprig of thyme
1 stick celery
10g fresh tarragon
1 onion, skin on
10g fresh parsley
½ bulb garlic

Method
Boil the chicken in enough water to cover. Once boiling, skim off any fat and any scum from the surface. Add the remaining ingredients on top and skim once more. Simmer but do not stir for 3 to 4 hours. Sieve, cool and store in the fridge or freezer.

 

Fish Stock
2kg soaked and washed fish bones
50g fresh herbs
3 litres cold water
12 white peppercorns
2 medium onions
2 bay leaves
2 white leeks
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 sticks celery
600ml white wine

Method
Sweat the vegetables and herbs with the olive oil until soft but without colouring them. Add the fish bones and stir to coat. Add water and wine to cover and bring to the boil. Skim and simmer for 20 minutes. Allow to cool (about 3 to 4 hours), sieve and store in the fridge or freezer.

Meet: Phil Burleigh; Steamers Centre and Best Risotto chef

22 year old Phil hails from Christchurch (but we won’t hold that against him), loves golf and horse racing and cites his Mum & Dad as the biggest influencers on his career. When he’s not cooking up a storm, he can be found listening to Susan Boyle (true), Christmas Carols and picking sheep wool off Velcro (he definitely needs to get out more).

The first half…

Mark Burmin (left) & John Pareanga (Best Knife of the Night) (right)

All credit to the boys for last night’s performance with the team on task and on track to continue their successes off the field in the Polytech’s training restaurant and kitchen.

A low number of handling errors saw only the odd nick from the chef’s knives as the boys sliced, diced, sweated and sautéed their way through the evening. John Pareanga, Hooker and BOP Poly Marine Studies student, earned himself title of fastest knife with his swift onion chopping skills, while Centre Phil Burleigh’s efforts saw him taking out Best Risotto on the night.

Phil Burleigh (Best Risotto of the Night)

Andrew Targett, BOP Poly head chef, said “the boys did a phenomenal job. They all enthusiastically embraced the night and were excellent students. I’d have any of them working in my kitchen.”

Stay tuned for more pics from the night through out the week, nutrition tips, and the recipes the boys used.

The Steamers in the kitchen

Tonight’s the first night the Steamers players will grace the Polytech kitchens. The menu includes:

• Basic stocks and sauces
• Basic meat cookery
• Easy Risotto
• Foccacia

With not a rugby ball in sight, the evening will be crammed full of flavours, as well as fun, informative and entertaining. A first for many of the boys will be a new take on “sweating” when they tackle the risotto dish; other new techniques include “reducing”, “toasting” and “simmering”.

While the Air New Zealand cup isn’t at stake, it’s another form of steak that could upset the boys this week. Let’s see if the boys can gain a reputation for hand-eye coordination off the field in a test where their tastebuds are on the line…

Check back on the blog later in the week for the recipes as well as all the action from the boys.

Meet: Peter Blakeway

Peter Blakeway

Award winning professional chef, Peter Blakeway, has almost twenty years’ experience in the hospitality industry, including ten years spent running the Good Hotel Guide’s Hotel of the Year, Kilcamb Lodge, in the Scottish Highlands. It was here that Peter was also awarded Two AA Rosettes for fine cuisine and the AA Courtesy & Care Award for high levels of customer care both in 1993 and 2000 – the only hotel in the UK to be given this award twice! Peter was also runner-up for the prestigious Restaurant of the Year Award twice.

Peter has gained experience at the five-star Claridges Hotel in London, as well as Michelin-starred Gidleigh Park in Devon and Michelin-starred Airds Hotel, Port Appin, Scotland, with a stint in the USA at the five-star, 1000 room Boca Raton Resort & Club.

Peter and Anne emigrated from the UK to the beautiful Bay of Plenty with their young family in 2004, opening the Deli on Devonport and Plenti Cookschool in Tauranga in May 2005. While continuing to build the business, Peter is also working on some fascinating TV projects with both New Zealand and UK production companies.

Peter recently joined British actor Robson Green (‘Wire in the Blood’ and ‘Soldier, Soldier’) during the filming of his ‘Extreme Fishing’ programme, screened in the UK in April and then on to Australia and Air New Zealand. Peter had to admit that cooking freshly caught crayfish and kina on board a fishing boat, with 35 knots of wind from the northwest and a couple of metres of swell, certainly added to the ‘extreme’ side of the programme. However, he reckoned that “the real star of the show was the Bay of Plenty who showed her beauty, her bounty and a little bit of attitude!”

In March, Destination TV invited Peter to host the Bay of Plenty episode of ‘New Zealand on a Plate’, linking the scenic beauty of the region with quality local produce. The episode is due to screen on TV1 on 3 October and will then move to Sky’s Food Channel, Australia’s Channel 7 and Air New Zealand’s inflight programme.

Peter also received an invitation recently from TV1 to cook for their Breakfast team on Friday 29th May, when he demonstrated a budget conscious fish recipe using avocado oil from the Grove. As a follow up to this, Peter was invited back to TV1’s breakfast programme on Friday 12th June to demonstrate his famous Avocado Chocolate Truffles for Paul Henry – using avocados and avocado oil again from the Bay!

Peter has also been guest presenter and MC at events, including the Tauranga Home Show for the past four years, as well as doing demonstrations for clients including KPMG, Zespri, Waipuna Hospice and at the Maketu Seafood Festival.

Meet: Andrew Targett

Boppoly Chef Andrew Tagett

Academic Staff Member, BOP Polytechnic Hospitality Programme
Chef Extraordinaire!

Talented chef Andrew Targett is one of the new breed of experienced chefs on Bay of Plenty Polytechnic’s hospitality tutoring team.

Andrew has wide experience both here and in Australia, having worked at some top eateries, including Kingston Hotel, Pearl and Vital Ingredient in Melbourne, and locally at Mills Reef, Latitude, Harbourside, Kestrel and Sebel Trinity Wharf.

Andrew reflects on how he first got into the hospitality industry.

“I grew up around wonderful food – my mother loved to cook, and my father was an avid gardener. So much so we were pretty self sufficient.

“I’ve always been passionate about good food and cooking, so once finishing school I decided to complete Bay of Plenty Polytechnic’s one year Hospitality programme. From there I was lucky enough to gain an apprenticeship with local foodie icon Somerset Cottage in Bethlehem. From there, the world was my oyster!”

What do you enjoy most about the hospitality industry?

“I really enjoy working with food; fresh ingredients and the opportunity they provide for endless creativity. I really get a buzz when I know people have enjoyed the meal I have cooked them.

“I’ve been really lucky to work with many amazing eateries, which has kept me fresh and focused on creating new ideas. It’s not all about the big name places either; I’ve really enjoyed working for some smaller restaurants where I’ve been able to be a little more creative and let my passion for food show.”

Why teaching and what advice would you give your students?

“Teaching is a natural extension of my passion for food. I love sharing my experiences with students and infusing my passion for fresh ingredients. I get a real kick out of seeing the students grow their individual talents and show the same passion in their own creations.

“You need to dedicated, eager to learn and passionate about food if you are wanting to be successful in this industry.”

Where do you see yourself in five years time?

“Definitely tutoring at the Polytech for a few more years, soaking up the best of the Bay lifestyle and spending quality time with my family.”

Customers at the Polytech’s Atrium Restaurant are in for a culinary delight with Andrew on board. Be warned, the aromas coming out of the kitchens will be addictive!

Atrium Restaurant is open to the public for dinner on Wednesday and Thursday evenings at selected times throughout the year. For more information, phone 0800 BOP POLY or check the Atrium webpage.

Learn more about Bay of Plenty Polytech’s Hospitality programmes

Lets get cooking

In conjunction with Peter Blakeway from Deli on Devonport, our very own super-chef Andrew Targett will be running a series of fun and punchy cooking classes with the Steamers rugby players in the Atrium Restaurant kitchens.

As well as delivering some pertinent nutritional advice, Andrew and Peter will show the players that good food can be fun, quick and best of all, delicious!

The Steamers will have two dedicated cooking nights and then on the third night, they will band together to cook for their families and invited guests.

Enter the draw on the right if you’d like to be in the draw to win dinner, cooked by and served to you by the Steamers. Dinner will be served on Monday 21^st September at 6.30pm.

This blog will be updated throughout the next three weeks with recipes, nutrition advice, photographs and video action of the Steamers hard at work in the Poly kitchens.

Watch this space!

About Cooking with the Steamers

In conjunction with Peter Blakeway from Deli on Devonport, our very own super-chef Andrew Targett will be running a series of fun and punchy cooking classes with the Steamers rugby players in the Atrium Restaurant kitchens.

As well as delivering some pertinent nutritional advice, Andrew and Peter will show the players that good food can be fun, quick and best of all, delicious!

The Steamers will have two dedicated cooking nights and then on the third night, they will band together to cook for their families and invited guests.

Enter the draw if you’d like to be in the draw to win dinner, cooked by and served to you by the Steamers. Dinner will be served on Monday 21^st September at 6.30pm.

This blog will be updated throughout the next three weeks with recipes, nutrition advice, photographs and video action of the Steamers hard at work in the Poly kitchens.

Watch this space!

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