Seventeen-year-old rising culinary star, Deb Ridley, made Canberra proud earlier this month winning triple silvers in her first ever culinary competition.

She wowed the judges with her bespoke menu for the fiercely contested Nestlé Golden Chef’s Hat Award, Australia’s longest running culinary competition for young chefs, now in its 58th year.

A commis chef at Ondine – European Brasserie, Deb has steadfastly pursued a culinary career since the age of 15, despite only having the support of her family when she left high school to become an award-winning chef.

 “This was my first time competing in a culinary competition. I entered to practise my skills and build my confidence in cooking,” she said.

“My boss (Head chef at Ondine, Keaton McDonnell) is my culinary inspiration; he’s been very supportive of me giving it a go. As well as being a past competitor in Golden Chef’s himself, he has worked in restaurants all over the world.”

Deb’s two-course menu consisted of:

• Entrée – Confit of potatoes, roasted cabbage, macadamia sesame paste, and Worcestershire onions.
• Main – Aquna Murray Cod, roasted tomato beurre blanc, leek stuffed with Murray Cod ragout, nashi pear and zucchini.
• Dessert – Honey and lime cremeux, pistachio praline and white chocolate, with kaffir lime and lemongrass foam, and fresh raspberries.

“It takes a lot of courage for young chefs to step up and be critiqued at such a high level,” said head judge and Nestlé professional commercial development chef, Elke Travers.

“All the finalists this year have been truly impressive, and Deb’s dish creations were a delight. We commend her for propelling her culinary journey.”

The ultimate winner, Chef Jimmy Han, has been awarded with a two-week European culinary experience, valued at $10,000, to travel with the Australian Culinary Olympics Junior Team to the IKA Culinary Olympics in Stuttgart, Germany next February.

The trip will also include a bespoke culinary work experience in Europe. Chef Han also landed two $2,500 tuition packages for delivering the Best Savoury Dish Award and the Best Dessert Dish Award.

Chef Sarah Jones, a three-time competitor in Golden Chef’s, was awarded the Most Sustainable Approach Award for her commitment to sourcing local produce, and chef Ashleigh Handsaker was awarded the Most Creative Use of a Nestlé Product Award for being daring enough to integrate coffee beans into a broth as part of her entrée salad dish.

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