Medals on a plate

By Tania Martin
KALORAMA chef Hayley Jones has proven she has the Midas touch after winning five gold medals at a cook-off last week.
The third year apprentice chef from The Country Place and Flowerdale Estate Retreats scooped the pool at the Swinburne University Apprentice of the Year Awards.
Ms Jones said she was overwhelmed by her medal tally and had not expected to even win a single medal, let alone five.
After a cook-off at the university, Ms Jones was names as the 2007 Apprentice Chef of the Year, which is an honour in itself.
But the accolade didn’t finish there with this upcoming chef also winning medals for Most Outstanding Entrée, Most Outstanding Main Course, Most Outstanding Dessert and the Suzanne Halliday Yarra Valley Food Group perpetual trophy.
The Suzanne Halliday award is presented to the chef who produces a course which demonstrates the best use of Yarra Valley regional produce.
Ms Jones was awarded this prestigious award for her use of local produce for her dessert which involved picking strawberries from the Country Place’s garden on the morning of the cook-off.
Although Ms Jones is only now finishing her apprenticeship as a chef, she has been in the hospitality industry for more than eight years.
She started her career as a waitress at the Country Place where she worked for five years before switching professions.
Ms Jones is now an award-winning chef and is only at the beginning of what could be a great career.
John Harris of the Country Place and Flowerdale Retreats said Ms Jones’ maturity, commitment and tireless attention to detail had contributed to her success.
Ms Jones attributes her awards to the head chefs at the Country Place and Flowerdale Estate Retreats where she works.
“I get a lot of support and training in the kitchen and have been given plenty of advice, feedback and time to practice,” she said.
Ms Jones said she also gets her inspiration for creating recipes from regional produce, culinary books and the internet.
Her preparation for the cook-off also involved visiting local growers and epicurean producers.
“Our menus at work focus on local produce and we are very lucky to be in the Yarra Valley and Murrindindi region for this,” she said.