Two young Canberra chefs reach national finals of Golden Chef's Hat Award

Two young Canberra chefs are heading to the national final for the Nestle Golden Chef's Hat Award for the second year running. Georgia Harrison and her teammate Amanda Polsen will be travelling to Sydney in September in hope of taking out the title.

The pair impressed judges at the ACT state finals, preparing a three-course meal consisting of ocean trout, herb crusted lamb chuck, and a dark chocolate mousse and blood orange caramel lava dome.

Harrison and Polsen also made it through to the national finals last year. But Harrison is unsure if it's an advantage. "We learned heaps last year, we met lots of different chefs – young chefs and professional chefs – but I think this year it's going to be quite different. Even though we have been before I think it will be a completely different playing field."

The addition of a live audience this year is something the two young women aren't used to.

"Cooking in front of a live audience will be completely different, it's a different pressure all together when you have several hundred strangers all watching you," Harrison said.

On the day of the finals, contestants will be given a number of ingredients which they then have to prepare and present to the judging panel, made up of internationally recognised World Association of Chef's Societies judges, Nestle professional chefs, and members of the Australian Culinary Foundation.

Harrison says they will have to step it up if they want to win at nationals. "It's tricky, we don't know much about the competition yet or what produce we will be getting, so it's hard to plan what we need to make. A lot of it will come down to improving our flavours and our techniques in the dishes and taking them to another level."

his year, the pair are working at different jobs, so finding time to practise together is hard. Polsen says they are scheduling training weeks in advance as soon as they get their rosters.

"The competition can definitely open doors for your career, it's a lot of networking, getting to know the other competitors and the other judges, and everyone is really nice and willing to help," Polsen said.

The Nestle Golden Chef's Hat Award finals will be held on September 20-21 in Sydney.