The Manawatu Standard: Palmerston North chef wins NZ beef and lamb ambassador role
Chef, Andrew May with his Ambassador Award.
Amayjen Restaurant has brought yet another award back to Palmerston North, this time with its chef securing an official role as ambassador for one of the Manawatū’s most important export products.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand named chef Andrew May as one of their ambassadors for 2022 and 2023; a role that recognises New Zealand chefs who use exceptionally creative and innovative ideas for their meat dishes.
Alongside May, three other chefs from Auckland, Wellington, and Te Anau have been recognised and in their ambassador roles, they’ll be encouraged to share their knowledge and showcase their ideas to customers at events across the country.
May has already won the NZ Chefs’ Plate of Origin award and multiple Cuisine Good Food Awards. He says this award has been excellent for getting their name out there even more.
“It’s good to be recognised for beef and lamb. It’s the main thing New Zealand is known for so its really special to be acknowledged for it”.
“The lamb dish I sent in was a lamb rack with a pressed lamb neck and an Indian infused granola made from green tomato chutney, baby beetroot, and basil puree. All the ingredients were all locally sourced from Manawatū”.
“It’s really good to get our name out and be able to share with others how we do our beef and lamb here”.
All chefs submitted their entries from their restaurants where the shortlist gets narrowed down to fifteen finalists. As part of the process, an independent and anonymous judge with culinary experience comes in to judge the dish before writing a report and choosing the winners.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s promotions manager Lisa Moloney says it’s almost like a job interview.
“We’ve been running this award for 26 years now and it’s really an honorary role that acknowledges the work chefs are doing with beef and lamb”
Andrew and Jenni May in their restaurant, Amayjen in Victoria Ave, Palmerston North.
The agri-food sector in Manawatū is big business. 24% of people in the region work in the industry and in the past year, it contributed $310 million to the local GDP.
“Beef + lamb is huge in that part of the country and there’s now some fantastic restaurants there too, including one with one of our ambassadors” says Moloney.
Since moving from Feilding, Amayjen has gone from strength to strength, despite the current restrictions. Sous chef Jacob Aomarere-Poole recently won the Lee Kum Kee NZ developing chefs award while the restaurant itself sits comfortably in the Top 100 in the country.