When Archer Houghton walked onto the stage at Nestlé’s Golden Chef Awards, his expression read somewhere between giddiness and disbelief. The 21-year-old Victorian had just found out he was the winner of the 2024 competition, which saw him emerge victorious against 10 other chefs.
It marked the end of months of preparation, which culminated in a trip to Melbourne where the finalists took part in culinary challenges and experiences. On the first day the chefs arrived in the city, they met Delaware North’s Executive Chef Dylan Sanding for lunch and a tour of the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Afterwards, they attended a masterclass with Sam Burke from Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA), followed by a Rare Medium Live cocktail party. “Everyone was nervous and anxious, but it was good that we were all together to break the nerves,” says Houghton.
That night, with the competitors sufficiently acquainted (and “all the nerves still very high,” according to Houghton), the competitors settled into bed early, brimming with anticipation for the first morning of the competition the next day.
Five of the finalists competed in front of a live audience in purpose-built kitchens at Fine Food Australia on Monday, with the other six competing on Tuesday. The chefs were tasked with preparing an original three-course menu consisting of a vegetarian entrée, a main course featuring beef, and a hot or cold dessert. Produce was provided from a set pantry, which featured Australian native ingredients and a range of Nestlé Professional products.
“The challenges for everyone were different because we all went through different things,” says Houghton. “The finalists on Monday had no idea what the kitchen looked like – the set up and how the equipment worked, while day two had the stress of [working out] what went wrong yesterday and trying to figure out how to fix it.”
Houghton competed on Monday but wasn’t fussed about cooking on day one. “We had the benefit of just getting it out of the way and not stressing,” he says.
Both days of the competition included an hour to set up, three and a half hours of cooking, and another hour to pack down. Paired with high levels of anxiety and adrenaline, the days were no doubt challenging for competitors. For Houghton, his anxiety was put in a pressure cooker by a last-minute decision to alter the way he prepared his dessert.
“The Saturday night before I started the comp, I changed the timing for my dessert,” says Houghton. An element of the dish was not freezing and defrosting fast enough, meaning he had to push everything forward to begin the dessert earlier, ensuring it had enough time to set. “In my head, I was always 25 or 30 minutes behind.”
Less than 48 hours before the competition began, Houghton completed a practice run in which he was able to get everything finished on time, a feat he achieved again on the day of the competition. “The adrenaline and having the live audience just made me put my head down and get it done,” he says.
Houghton got it done alright, with a menu that Nestlé Executive Chef and Golden Chef judge Elke Travers described as: “demonstrating great technique across all courses”. The chef received a silver medal for his entree of mushroom and tofu custard with pickled vegetables and beetroot gazpacho. “I wanted to do something light and delicate,” he says. An ivy-like beetroot tuile adorned the dish, “just to add texture”.
“The menu inspiration came through from work,” says Houghton, who is currently an apprentice chef at Mercer’s Restaurant in Eltham, Victoria. “We do the mushroom and tofu custard [at Mercer’s], but I wanted to make it more earthy, so [I added] beetroot and mushrooms. I had no idea what to do for the main, so I got help from my boss.”
For main, Houghton delivered seared rostbiff (a whole rump with the rump cap taken off) served on wilted greens with cottage pie, roasted carrot, and black pepper sauce. Dessert was a strawberry and pink peppercorn mousse with macadamia and coconut crumble, fresh berry salad, and basil foam.
The change in timing may have been the element that made all the difference for Houghton, who received gold medals for his main course as well as his dessert. “He showcased fresh flavours and surprising textural contrasts,” said Travers. “He demonstrated such skill, knowledge and maturity throughout the competition, and this experience will no doubt take his career to new heights.”
Houghton took home a grand prize valued at $10,000, including a 14-day all-expenses-paid trip to the Worldchefs Congress & Expo in Singapore. During his trip, Houghton toured a range of venues and networked with prominent chefs.
The prize is just one of the many key takeaways from participating in the competition. Houghton says he’s developed essential time-management skills “because every comp takes so much out of you”. He also believes the competition has given him a toolkit to deal with high-pressure, stressful environments as well as the opportunity to network with qualified chefs. The competition gives young chefs strategies to deal with demanding situations, and provides them with a range of industry connections, helping to accelerate their careers.
Looking to the future, Houghton is keen to explore his field internationally. “Because I’m so young, I just want to learn as much as I can, so I’m going to most likely travel overseas and figure out exactly where my passion lies,” he says. “I love Japanese cooking, but I also love European techniques … so just marrying those two together.”
For now, it’s back to reality – as Houghton puts it: “back to the normal chef life, which is nice”. The young chef plans to return to Mercer’s to complete his apprenticeship and continue working with the team he describes as “like family”.
Next year will mark the 60th anniversary of the Nestlé Golden Chef’s Hat Awards. Nestlé founded competition in 1965 with the goal of kickstarting the careers of young chefs in the industry. It gives budding chefs the opportunity to learn from industry leaders, benchmark themselves against their peers, and be challenged in a pressurised environment.
Aspiring competitors between 16 and 24 can apply for next year’s Nestlé Golden Chef’s Hat Award at goldenchefs.com.au.
Recipe: Seared rostbiff with cottage pie, roasted carrots, wilted greens and a black pepper sauce
Serves 4
Ingredients
800g rostbiff
2 garlic cloves
20ml olive oil
1 sprig thyme
10 peppercorns
Butter
Thyme
Garlic
Wilted greens
20g green beans
2 leaves silver beet
2 leaves kale
10g butter
Braised rostbiff
80g rostbiff off cuts
30ml BUITONI Sugo Al Pomodoro
50ml red wine
½ carrot
½ onion
1 garlic clove
½ cup water
1 bay leaf
½ sprig of thyme
10g peas
Potato cup
4 medium red potatoes
1 tsp salt
20g Manchego
Mashed potato
Potato off cuts
10g butter
1 egg yolk
Salt
Pepper
Carrot puree
2 carrots
½ cup water
Salt
Pepper
10g butter
Black pepper sauce
3 garlic cloves
30g ginger
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp honey
100ml soy
1 tsp black vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 ½ tbsp sugar
Carrot
½ tsp fennel seeds
¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp oil
8 Dutch carrots
Thyme
Method
Rostbiff: Gladwrap beef (eye side) tightly with and poke holes in the gladwrap. Place beef in a vac bag, add garlic, oil, pepper and thyme, seal the bag and sous-vide in water at 61c for 1h 30min.
Once cooked, take out of bag and pat dry. Season with salt and then fry in a pan until a nice crust has formed. Add butter, thyme and garlic to the pan, basting the beef as it cooks. Once cooked, take it off the heat to rest before carving.
Braised rostbiff: Sear off the rostbiff offcuts in a pan with hot oil. Once the beef is golden brown, set it aside. Cook off your carrot onion, and garlic then add tomato paste and red wine and reduce. Add a bay leaf and water, return beef to the pan and cook on low for 1h. Finished with chopped thyme and peas.
Wilted greens: Heat pan. Add butter, silver beet, and kale. Cook till wilted.
Potato cup: Peel potatoes and cut two flat sides on each potato. Using a potato cutter, shape the potato into a pie base and then using a knife or melon baller, cut out the middle of the potato. Place the potato cups in a pot with cold water and salt. Cook until soft but still holding its shape.
Mash potato: Place potato offcuts in a pot with cold water and salt, cook until soft. Pass the potato throw a sieve and mix in egg yolk, salt, pepper, and butter. Once the braised rostbiff is finished, fill the potato cup with the braise and pipe the mash potato on top. Grate Manchego over the top and place in the oven to warm the pie.
Carrot puree: Roast carrot in the oven until golden. Add carrot to a pot with water then cook until soft. Blend in a blender with butter, salt and pepper until smooth. Place in a piping bag and set aside for later.
Black pepper sauce: Finley dice garlic and ginger and shallow fry until golden brown. Add black pepper and cook until fragrant, then add honey, soy, black vinegar, lemon juice, and sugar. Continue cooking until reduced and thick. Once finished, whisk in butter and set aside for later.
Carrot: Roast the carrots in the oven until coloured and soft. Meanwhile in a pan with hot oil, fry off the breadcrumbs then add fennel seeds. Once golden-brown, strain the crumb and then mix in chopped thyme. Thinly slice carrots and fry to crispen.
To serve: Place wilted greens in the centre of the plate, top with beef. Place the potato on the plate with the roasted carrot and sauce.
