Elizabeth Macarthur High School teacher Siarn White pours her chef skills into inspiring students
Students at Narellan’s Elizabeth Macarthur High School will go on a culinary adventure when they learn to match tea with food and experiment with flavour combinations.
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STUDENTS at Narellan’s Elizabeth Macarthur High School will go on a culinary adventure when they learn to match tea with food and experiment with flavour combinations.
Chef turned high school home economics teacher Siarn White, 31, will next term teach her Year 11 hospitality students about tea, how to prepare it and match it with food as part of their studies.
Ms White said the secret to tea matching was working with flavours that compliment different foods such as pairing lamb mint meatballs with a minty green tea or an apple crumble with an apple and vanilla tea.
The Wollongong resident was a chef for eight years before she decided to retrain as a home economics teacher.
“When I was a head chef, I loved working with the apprentices and thought I could do this for a job, teach kids and give them a passion for food,” Ms White said.
Ms White completed her Bachelor of Education externally at Charles Sturt University and has not for one moment regretted her new career path.
Now in her eighth year of high school teaching, she was one of the first 40 teachers in the state from public high schools to take part in a new hospitality immersion program. The Exellence in Hospitality Training five-day program exposed teachers to emerging food trends, tea mixology and latte art.
They also took part in a food as art workshop and Ms White made a macha (green tea powder) panna cotta with white and dark chocolate soil and honeycomb for this activity.
Ms White said she hoped to share her experiences with her Vocational Education and Training hospitality students.
“Teenagers may not normally drink tea so I’m going to expose them to new trends and flavours,” she said.
Ms White and her teacher colleagues who took part in the hospitality program also showcased their skills by preparing a long lunch and a five-course degustation dinner.
The teachers are now taking these industry skills back to the classroom to inspire their students.
Ms White followed her mum into the hospitality industry when she decided to become a chef.
“I’m a massive advocate for hospitality and even now, I dabble on weekends and holidays and help my friends and family,” she said.
Her three younger brothers also work in hospitality.
At home, Ms White regards herself as a rustic home-style cook who loves making dishes including vegetarian risotto and baking cookies and biscuits.
When asked about food trends for the second half of 2017, Ms White said a lot of experimentation was taking place such as using different types of ash or dust to accompany butter for example.
“There is nothing better than sitting down to lunch and being surprised that flavours you never thought would work are there,” she said.
Ms White said HSC students who studied a VET subject like hospitality received many benefits.
“Lots of kids don’t want to go to university, it’s not for everyone,” she said.
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