Goodwin chef wins Maggie Beer cooking challenge

Goodwin chef, Sandeep Vaid, cooked up a storm to win the mystery box challenge at a recent workshop for aged care chefs organised by leading restauranteur and culinary expert, Maggie Beer. Held at the Sydney Seafood School, the workshop titled “Appetite for Life” was an effort to share knowledge and ideas on how to enhance the overall food experience for residents in seniors’ homes. Forty-six chefs and cooks from leading aged care organisations across Australia participated in the event.

Following the presentations and group discussions, the participants were split into teams of two and given a mystery box challenge. Each box contained the same set of ingredients and teams were given one hour to come up with their best dish. Sandeep was teamed with Thor Boutell from Carinya Home, Atherton, Queensland.

“We both share similar physiques and I came up with a name for our team: Two Fat Chefs!”, shared Sandeep.

Together the two cooked an exotic dish that swept the judges off their feet.

“We made mushroom stuffed with lentil ragout. I was nursing a hand sprain and Thor was helpful enough to do all the cutting. Thankfully, our dish turned out quite nice and the judges loved it. And the best thing is we took only 21 minutes to prepare it!”