paid a reasonable amount of money, and you don’t have to re-qualify when you go overseas. You can get a job anywhere,” Pete says. “I’ve got off a plane in Majorca and got a job on the super yachts, just because I could cook. And that’s what I wanted, that’s the lifestyle I wanted. I love to ski, so I went working ski fields in Switzerland and Italy. The other thing about hospitality is it’s a creative outlet. I needed that outlet because I wasn’t really good at school. “I needed that outlet because I was very creative, and I always loved cooking. So I thought, well, why not combine travelling, cooking and being creative? I got to travel around the world and get paid for it. This is a great industry for young people to get into that side of things.” After decades in kitchens and training environments, Pete made a conscious decision to shift his focus. Rather than continuing to work with apprentices already in the system, he wanted to reach students earlier – before they had made up their minds about what their future might look like. That decision ultimately led him to Elizabeth College 12 months ago, where he now teaches commercial
cookery. It is a role that combines everything he has learnt across his career, but with a different objective: inspiration. “I’ve taught adults most of my life, because not only have I been a chef, but I’ve also been a hospitality and commercial cookery trainer, a trainer of apprentices in the workplace for private training organisations, RTOS, around Melbourne
SOME OF THE TREATS PREPARED AND SERVED BY ELIZABETH COLLEGE COOKERY STUDENTS
19 Tasmanian Hospitality Review April/May Edition
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