First year Culinary Arts student Hanna Mathe was the winner of the National Dairy Council “Cheese up your Life” competition for her blue cheese dish
First year Culinary Arts student Hanna Mathe was the winner of the National Dairy Council “Cheese up your Life” competition with her blue cheese dish.
Student in trainee chef category
First year BA (Hons) in Culinary Arts student Hanna Mathe was recently named the Winner of National Dairy Council “Cheese up your Life” recipe competition in the trainee chef category.
Hanna, from Waterford won the competition with her dish, a Cashel blue cheese, kale and pecan tart that impressed the judges.
Invitation
The National Dairy Council invited home cooks, trainees and those with a passion for food to apply to the competition with their recipes, with cheese being a primary ingredient.
Hanna was one of six finalists and won the trip of a lifetime to Tuscany for her dish along with one other chef, Roisin Gallagher.
Pastry perfection
A huge amount of time and effort went into perfecting the dish, with Hanna saying, “After weeks of practice I finally perfected the pastry and the end result was exactly as I wanted it to be. I'm absolutely delighted and still can't believe I won. It's a major step forward in my career.”
Looking to the future, Hanna aims to “travel and explore the culinary world in a broader context, experience cultures and people through their food and traditions,” with the possibility of having her own restaurant one day.