Year 10 students Claire Lonie and Katelyn Twiss were awarded a Bronze Medal in the International Secondary Schools Cooking Competition held in Tahiti from 4-11 October.

The duo, along with teacher Justin Kain, represented the ACT Australian Culinary Federation against competitors from Queensland, South Australia, Tahiti, Japan, Taipei, Cook Islands, New Zealand and New Caledonia.

Claire and Katelyn qualified for the competition by winning the ACT ACF Secondary Schools Cooking Competition in July.

Their days were filled with cultural experiences, trying native dance lessons, traditional food, and sightseeing. On Friday 9 October there was a cook off between all the teams.

As the youngest team in the competition, and with most competitors coming from culinary schools, the achievement of a Bronze Medal was a remarkable feat.

The medal was awarded for their dish, baked Tahitian batfish and pan-fried shrimp with a lime and chilli gel, pea cream, smoked veloute sauce and crispy choy sum. They were also awarded the Chef Paul Award, which is for the team that works well together, competes in the fairest way, and keeps going even though they have had to work through complicated situations.

Bronze medals were awarded for scores between 70-79, Silver for 80-89, Gold for 90-99, and Gold with Distinction for scores of 100. Taipei won the competition, Japan came second and one of the New Zealand teams finished third.

Congratulations to Claire and Katelyn and to their teacher, Mr Kain, for their efforts and achievement.