Armidale High School (AHS) Hospitality students Toby Killen and Liam Porter have won a big piece of the competitive pie in coming second and third respectively at the local World Skills competition.

Held at AHS, 13 students from the region competed with the task of cooking up a three-course meal.

With a caesar salad entrée, chicken schnitzel as the main course and poached pear in anglais sauce for dessert, the pressure was fairly intense, according to the students.

“The judges watched everything we did, from hygiene procedures through to safety factors,” Toby said.

Head judge was Barry Parsey from TAFE.

Liam said he cooked ‘for the love of it’.

“I haven’t set my career sights on being a chef,” he said.

“But it will be a great skill to have in life and I love cooking.”

Toby said he enjoyed cooking, but was ‘not so keen on the washing up’.

“I also like to cook for the love of it,” he said.

“The pressure of competition is a bit stressful, and I imagine that working in a commercial kitchen would be the same.

“But we have a fantastic state-of-the-art kitchen at Armidale High School and some wonderful teachers.

“We are learning some incredible skills for life.

“Teachers at Armidale High really motivate us.

“I think we are very fortunate and I know that the skills I’m learning here will carry through my life and be of great benefit to me.”