STUDENTS AT THE CANBERRA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY WINNERS OF THE PROVOLONE VALPADANA PDO CHEESE COMPETITION

Yumei Feng, Mehak Kukreja, Yen Tung Lin are the winners of the Provolone Valpadana PDO Cheese Competition, the contest organized by the Provolone Protection Consortium to reward students and future chefs who have been able to best interpret, with their own personal recipe, the spirit of this PDO cheese.

The awards ceremony took place at the Canberra Institute of Technology, the school that offers apprenticeships, degree certificates, and specific service industry training courses.

The contest was judged by the celebrity star Luca Ciano, a great connoisseur of PDO cheese and David Bain – Head Teacher del Canberra Institute of Technology, Chef Francesco Balestrieri – Executive Chef of East Hotel’s Agostinis and consultants to the Italian Embassy.

The challenge involving 40 students, was based on stringent evaluation criteria such as the correct mise en place, the ability to enhance the taste and consistency of Provolone Valpadana PDO within the recipe, the balance of flavours and of nutritional values, as well as adequate preparation methods.

And it was the acclaimed television chef who rewarded the highest-scoring students, first place in the Provolone Valpadana PDO Cheese Competition ranking. The young talent who won the first prize is Yumei Feng. With his recipe called St Honoré Provolone Valpadana PDO Cake, he won a scholarship worth $2,500 made available by the Protection Consortium, in attendance at the online awards ceremony.

Satisfaction for Mehak Kukreja and Yen Tung Lin in second and third place too, who received a cash prize of $1,000 and $500 respectively with the recipes: Crispy Provolone Valpadana PDO Pie and Provolone Valpadana DOP creme brulee with rosemary, tuile biscuits, blood orange crumble.

All the other students were given a certificate of participation for having interpreted, at their discretion, the mild or strong soul of Provolone Valpadana PDO in original recipes.