Twenty pupils from five schools - Otago Girls High, Bayfield High, Queens High, Kings High and Timaru Boys High - competed this week in the last of 13 regional finals.
Categories included live cooking competitions, where meals had to be prepared in an allocated time, or static food displays, which included pre-prepared desserts, quiche and muffins.
The Queens High School team of Sharna-Lee Te Waiti and Courtney Dowdall was the sole entry in the secondary schools challenge category, giving it a clear run to an all-expenses-paid trip to the national final in Auckland on October 7.
The pair had 90 minutes to prepare an entree and main course meal with carrots and potatoes as key ingredients.
Sharna-Lee prepared a carrot stuffed with a cream cheese mix accompanied by ciabatta bread, and Courtney made a main course of potato salad, chicken and a green salad.
"My hands were shaking during the [earlier] pasta competition and I forgot to add the cheese, but I was calm by the time I made the chicken main," Courtney said.
Hospitality Standards Institute regional training adviser Andrea Gibson said despite a modest number of entries, the quality of the competition was high.
