Big day of cooking ahead for former Alstonville High School student
Former Alstonville High School student Robert Smithson, who now is Southern Cross University’s Invercauld House chef, has been given a big challenge.
He has only today to prepare a banquet – using ingredients sourced from local growers – for a party of 80 guests attending the conference centre tomorrow for a regional cuisine tour.
The banquet will be attended by NSW Minister for Regional Development David Campbell and many of the industry’s top buyers for restaurants as well as leading food writers, who have chartered a plane to visit the region.
Throughout the day Northern Rivers’ food producers including growers of macadamias, olives, chillies, blueberries, coffee, tea as well as meat and gluten-free bread producers, will have the opportunity to pitch their produce to the buyers.
Although Robert was given his catering challenge earlier in the week, the ingredients from the producers only started arriving today.
So what is his menu plan?
“I’m still deciding on all the choices but I’m preparing a delicious cauliflower and macadamia nut soup with gluten-free coriander salsa loaf, followed by olive dukkha encrusted salmon and for desert, custard apple ice-cream and lemon myrtle tart,” he said. “I always feature local produce anyway.”
When Robert, now 23, was at Alstonville High School, his favourite subject was food technology. He is already an award-winning chef who has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry.
He has won a NSW Tourism and Hospitality Catering Award, a bronze medal in Southern Culinaire’s three-course luncheon contest and has won a Hilton International Hotel Brisbane High Achiever Award.
“I started my apprenticeship at 16 at the Alstonville Bowling Club, went to work in Sydney for a cruise ship company and then got a fantastic opportunity to join the Hilton International Hotel in Brisbane,” he said.
“I wanted to gain insight into a well-managed five-star kitchen adhering to classical and modern cuisine that was also innovative and creative.
“Now I have been able to take what I learnt there to my new position as head chef at Invercauld House.”
Being one of seven children, Robert said he was no stranger to the kitchen as a boy.
“My mum is a great cook. Thanks to her I developed a passion for food and cooking. I was always in the kitchen helping her out and really enjoyed it. I knew I wanted to be a chef from a very early age,” Robert said.
* Invercauld House Conference and Function Centre hosts university and corporate events, offers a venue for small meetings and you can book to enjoy the daily ploughman’s lunch buffet. It also offers 30 motel-style units for short-term, long-term or casual stays. The centre is owned by the university and managed by Norsearch, a subsidiary of SCU.
