ANDRE NURSE, 24, commis chef II at Hilton Barbados is continuing on his winning streak, winning gold and bronze medals as part of the Barbados culinary team at the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association’s (CHTA) Taste Of The Caribbean in Puerto Rico recently.
“The competition was a great learning experience, from training with the team for five weeks to actually taking part in the competition.
“We trained with some of the best chefs on the island, which exposed me to new techniques and trends in the industry,” Nurse, an employee at Hilton Barbados since 2008, explained.
Overall gold
He added that for the team to come out on top with overall gold and to be named Team Of The Year with the highest scores and also with the best looking plate in the Chef Of The Year competition was fantastic:
“It was worth all the hard work. It wasn’t easy and with just five weeks to prepare, we started at a disadvantage, but after the hard training and the gourmet evenings it all started to come together.”
Nurse won two special awards: the Hans Schank Commemorative Award for the Most Innovative Menu and the Best Use Of Angus Beef Award, as well as educational scholarships from the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute, was like icing on the cake for the team.
An honour
“It was an honour to represent Barbados in Puerto Rico and I am grateful with the Hilton Barbados for allowing me the time to compete and the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association (BHTA) for managing the team and getting us to Taste.
“I was honoured to be part of a team of culinary professionals led by chef Henderson Butcher. It was a pleasure working with each of them. I am already looking forward to next year’s Taste competition,” Nurse said.
This very talented young chef, who aspires to rise to the post of executive chef, is no stranger to awards as he captured the title of Team Member Of The Month in April 2009 at Hilton Barbados, as well as a perfect attendance award and a certificate of appreciation, among others. (PR)
