School Day 22: COMPETITION DAY!

7:00AM alarms screaming from my computer, telling me it's to wake up. Only 8 more hours till crunch time.I went to school to gather my ingredients, when I hear commotion coming from the kitchen, my ‘partner’ the other entrant from Sofitel Academy working at maze was late and they had to be there at 8AM an hour before the first section was scheduled to begin.

I went to put my own ingredients at home whilst the others hurried to make it on time.

9:15AM: I hurried back to the exhibition center to see if I could make it in time to watch the first section.

10:00AM: The fine food festival opens for real and people start to flood in. seats begin to fill up and the pressure gets more intense as people start to watch.

10:45AM: A mad rush begins as the seemingly calm contestants scramble to finish within the 2 hour mark.

11:30AM: a quick debrief on what the comp was like from my partner as we are cleaning the dishes.

12:00PM: I start to feel a bit sick, as I watch the 2nd section begin.

12:30PM: I decide to go home and get my stuff and change into my whites.

2:00PM: I return to the exhibition center with all my gear ready for the comp, I still want to vomit.

3:00PM: I meet the other section 3 competitors, and a quick debrief about conditions and just to have fun.

3:15PM: 15 minutes time to set up.

3:30PM: READY STEADY COOK! Surprisingly when I started I was calm and mellow.

This is where time begins to fly without me knowing before any of us know it. We are about to enter the 15 minutes within the 90 dedicated to plating. Though my potato boudin was a failure and my purée had not been passed I decide it would be better to get it up on time rather than loose a massive amount of points for running into overtime.

5:30PM: all dishes are up and we all begin to clean it up and change out of our whites for the announcement of the medals.

6:00PM the exhibition center was clearly empty now with only us left and other stores finishing their daily pack down. I finally hear my name Silver medalist WHAA HOOOOOOOOO

My dish, flawed and all but still my beautiful Terroir Pig

Silver Medal!