The winner of the Western Australian Seafood Apprentice Competition, which promotes the region’s seafood whilst showcasing apprentice talent, has been announced.
The competition, hosted for the first time by the Western Australian Fishing Industry Council (WAFIC), was won by Jiann Woei Yeo from Uma at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Perth. Second and third place were Muhammad Mohamed from Steve’s Bar and Café in Nedlands and Ashleigh Winfield from Taylor St Quarters in Esperance.
The chief executive of WAFIC, Alex Ogg, praised the finalists for taking the initiative to learn about their WA seafood industry and the products they showcased. “We were ecstatic with the quality and presentation of the seafood dishes that put a public spotlight on apprentices’ skills, creativity and knowledge of their local seafood industry,” he said.
Jiann Yeo won with his WA sea mullet, a dish that impressed the judges because sea mullet is an underused species. “It was excellent to see Jiann correctly label the mullet as MSC certified and advise that it was caught by local Peel Harvey fisher, Damien Bell from BellBuoy Seafoods,” said Mr Ogg.
Mr Ogg also said that this year’s winner proved what the competition was all about – a seafood experience. He said not only did the winner produce an excellent dish, they labelled the seafood correctly, created a story, did their research on sustainability and spoke directly with the local producer.
Jiann receives a set of knives worth AUS$250 and a training session with WA Seafood Ambassador, Don Hancey, at the 2019 State Seafood Awards.
