LOCAL SuniTAFE student Saxon Van Heumen claimed a silver medal at AusTAFE’s Culinary trophy state finals last Wednesday, leaving the talented 21-year-old with a tough decision.
Cooking is just one of Van Heumen’s passions – the apprentice cook juggles study and his job at Swan Hill District Hospital while climbing the ladder of umpiring Australian rules football.
But when he travelled to Geelong’s Gordon Institute of TAFE, there was only the culinary arts on his mind, whipping up a three-course feast that impressed the judges.
Mr Van Heumen was chosen to represent his class by Mildura SuniTAFE, having shown his skills by making it through an earlier regional competition.
The Certificate III in Commercial Cookery student’s dishes were adjudged the highest scoring in the third-year apprentice section.
Mr Van Heumen said competitors received guidelines to follow for the competition, which tested a range of skills from the apprentice cooks.
“Our entrée had to be a cheese omelette, presented in the shape of a cigar,” he said.
“That presentation was something I wasn’t used to having to do, but I got very good marks for that dish.
“For the main we had to choose between lamb, beef, pork or goat.
“My main was a crispy pork-belly topped with a sherry jus with mashed potato, honey-glazed carrots and broccolini.
“The dessert had to be lactose-free, and we had to incorporate a product from a certain brand of vanilla extract or essence in the dish.
“Then for dessert I made a lactose-free, deconstructed coconut and citrus cheesecake.”
The Van Heumen name holds a longstanding history at SuniTAFE, with Saxon’s grandfather John one of the five founding members of Sunraysia College of TAFE in 1980.
The younger Van Heumen said he holds great pride in finding success at an institution with such a family connection.
“It feels pretty cool, I won’t lie,” he said.
“It really makes me feel proud of myself, it’s a feeling that I’m walking behind him in those places that he used to be.
“SuniTAFE have supported me immensely, even just in the sense of giving me the opportunity to do this in the first place.
“That’s really the opportunity of a lifetime if I’m being honest, it was great to be the one they chose to do this.”
Mr Van Heumen said while his impressive performance had brought a sense of pride, the chance to meet new people was another unexpected benefit.
“Being able to travel down to Geelong was a great opportunity,” he said.
“I got the chance to meet some new first and second year apprentices who I’d never really met before – interacting with those new people was really great.
“Some of those guys that I was competing against work at five-star restaurants and live in big cities like Melbourne and Geelong, they’re some insanely good apprentices.
“One of the chefs there told one of the teachers that I was one of their favourites on the day.
“They were raving about my personality and the vibe that I brought to the kitchen – when I saw that message I was just smiling the whole time, it felt awesome.”
The enthusiasm and passion Mr Van Heumen brings to cooking is something he brings to everything, having been elected to join the AFL’s umpiring academy last year.
Having faced some tough challenges in recent years, particularly in overcoming a diagnosis of stage 2 Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2021, Van Heumen continues to achieve highly.
Mr Van Heumen said he had yet to be forced to decide between cooking and umpiring, something he hopes he won’t need to do in the future.
“I really haven’t made a big decision on my future yet,” he said.
“I’m doing really well with my umpiring stuff at the moment, so it’d be great if I was able to continue doing both umpiring and cooking.
“There are more steps for me in both things, but it’s a hard decision between the two.”
