SERVITE College student and aspiring chef Yasmine Yianni was inspired by her grandmother to win a cooking competition last week.
The Year 12 commercial cookery student and Dianella resident took first prize for her Cipria chicken ravioli dish in the Hospitality Group Training’s (HGT) Taste of the Future Cooking Competition.
She was granted an apprenticeship with HGT, all TAFE fees and tuition paid for by sponsor Oil2U, a $500 cash prize and a $1000 ‘Cut it Out’ voucher for Servite College.
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READ NOWYasmine (18), who works at Voyager Caf in Hillarys, said the win was “unexpected” and she thought she would not make the top five.
“It was such an amazing feeling, I felt like I was all air-headed and dizzy,” she said.
“We had an hour and 45 minutes but I finished within the first hour which was really cool.
“Everyone else’s looked really good and mine did not look very good…I kept the bowl in the oven before we went out.”
Yasmine said her dish was a signature family savoury recipe from their Cyprian roots.
“My grandmother used to make it when I was little and I just grew up on that,” she said.
“When I was five, I used to sit on my grandmother’s bench and I would chop up her parsley.
“Ever since then, I have just loved it.”
Yasmine said her father was in the commercial kitchen equipment business so she would travel around the world on food adventures.
“He is an amazing cook…he goes on lots of business trips to visit restaurants,” he said.
“I’d hope to one day open up a food chain-like restaurant with my dad and travel to Europe.”