Peter Miekle, head chef at The Balcony Restaurant, says there weren't too many cooks in the kitchen during the school holidays, but rather the number of hands on deck was a case of "the perfect ingredients to success" as local students completed a food safety and handling course.
With funding from the Taranaki Electricity Trust (TET) secondary school students in the district were offered the opportunity to complete a NZQA Food Handling course.
Tessa Clarke, environmental health officer from Implement and Associates, says that with changes to the Stratford District Council's food safety bylaw this course will allow students to be employed in the food service industry. To complete the course the students spent time in the commercial kitchen, as well as completing a written assessment.
TET chairman Brian Jeffares is pleased with the number of students who signed up. "It's great to have such a positive response from young people, this course will allow them to be ready to enter the workforce."
The course will be run again in term time for students who couldn't participate during the holidays.
The two-day programme was overseen by The Balcony Restaurant head chef Peter Miekle who was impressed by the students' "high motivation and willingness to learn".
Joshua Hunger enjoyed the course. "It was so worth it to have this qualification". He plans to use the qualification to gain part-time work while at university.
Brian says TET is always looking for ways to fund education that has direct impact on students. "We will definitely look into funding this programme again."