Applications for the Fifteen Foundation Chef Training Program are now closed.

Thank you to all you eager young people who have applied. If eligible you will be notified over the next week by mail of an interview taking place during the week of the 11th May 2009.

> Find out more on our Chef Training Program...

The fantastic learning opportunities continued for our third group of apprentices when they recently spent an educational afternoon with renowned Melbourne chef Greg Malouf and his new Momo head chef Troy Payne, as they prepared some amazing food including chickpea and preserved lime risotto with marinated spice quail (ras el hanout) followed by whole salmon ‘tarator’. Suffice to say the flavours were sublime and it would be safe to suggest that our new apprentices have never eaten so well!

Greg is obviously very busy preparing for the opening of his new version of Momo in November and so this was a unique opportunity for our apprentices to broaden their palates experiencing the delights of Middle Eastern cooking at its best.

Big thanks again for our friends at Prahran Market and The Essential Ingredient for making this fantastic day happen – your efforts on behalf of our young people are truly awesome! Without the generous support of passionate people within the hospitality industry we simply could not deliver this amazing program for our trainees.

To celebrate the successful completion of the pre-apprenticeship program at Box Hill Institute of TAFE the group 3 recruits prepared a beautiful lunch for family and friends at Fountains Restaurant at Box Hill TAFE. The lunch provided a great opportunity for the trainees to showcase their newly developed kitchen skills including designing the menu, cooking and plating the meals (all under the watchful eye of Box Hill TAFE’s Andrew Sankey – Chef Educator extraordinaire). The completion of the pre-apprenticeship is a major achievement for many of our young people who have struggled to complete anything before in their life, and is a significant milestone for these young people as they step into the working kitchen of Fifteen Melbourne for the next 12 months as awesome first year apprentice chefs.

In early July the group 2 apprentices were pitted against each other under competition conditions in our unique version of Iron Chef to produce some fantastic food. While not as flamboyant as the TV version the apprentices are under pressure to produce some quality meals from their mystery boxes of ingredients. The judges this year voted Ayman Ali the Fifteen Chef for 2008.

Big thanks to our judges Tim White from Books For Cooks (who also donated the book prizes), Glenn Flood, and Matteo Pignatelli (massive thanks for hosting the guys for dinner at Matteo’s and Melanie Hargreaves who generously gave their time to judge event and support our young apprentices.

While on their journey with Fifteen the new trainees not only learn how to cook, but are also given the opportunity to develop important life skills. This year the process began with the first of “A series of conversations” with Bruce Davis who is assisting our young people with the important skills of how to better communicate with themselves and with others. Bruce is an experienced and energetic presenter with a passion for what people can accomplish when they work together. Apart from his formal schooling Bruce considers that his training in being able to get the best out of people began when the late and great Norm Smith coached him as a 16 year old. As a young man that experience shaped the foundation fro a life committed to empowering people and training them to accomplish their purpose and goals.

This was followed with the first of several sessions led by Sherry Strong on the importance of good nutrition. Sherry is now a firm fixture at Fifteen, having provided valuable nutritional education to all 3 groups of apprentices. Sherry’s sessions continue to be energetic, fun and most importantly informative. Sherry has an amazing capacity to engage our young people’s minds and hearts in a way that is energizing and captivating. We work with young people who are difficult to engage and who don’t have the best track record for looking after themselves. Through practical demonstration and sharing of personal experience and wisdom Sherry manages to touch the lives of our young apprentices.

Late in June we went on a fantastic sourcing trip to visit our friends at the Peaceful Gardens Cooking School at Koonwarra in Gippsland. On a stunning winter’s day Tina Collins gave us an enthusiastic and informative tour of the organic farm that provides produce for the cooking school, and the new recruits extended a helping hand by planting herbs and potatoes. After picking fruits and vegetables, we handed these over to Sandy and her team who cooked up a wonderful for lunch before we got down to some serious bread making. The recruits took away a wealth of knowledge and experience, and were able to sample the freshness of the produce of first hand - “paddock to plate”. The passion for food and the commitment to using high quality locally grown produce by the team at the Peaceful Gardens Cooking School was an inspiration to our new recruits.

Big thanks and Big Love to Tina Collins and the ladies at Peaceful Gardens Cooking School who are an awesome bunch of women, doing great things for food, education and the environment.

“These are an amazing bunch of young people”
  - Tina Collins (Peaceful Gardens Cooking School)

Our new recruits visited the Luv-A-Duck showroom in Port Melbourne to learn about all things duck. After helping out with the cooking we sampled a tasty feast of duck in its many forms. For many recruits this was their first experience of duck and judging by the clean plates it won’t be their last.

Thanks again to Shane and the guys at Luv-A-Duck for hosting us.

“I have never eaten duck before, it tastes so good”
   – Ben (Group 3 recruit)

To break up the training at Box Hill TAFE the new recruits experienced a day in the kitchen at Fifteen Melbourne. It was a great opportunity to experience the fast pace and high pressure that a profession kitchen environment can be, and a chance to meet some of the qualified chefs who will be teaching them valuable culinary skills over the next 12 months

“It was so good to be in the kitchen, I can’t wait until we are in there full time”
  - Glynn (Group 3 recruit)

We recently trekked down the Princes Highway to the Bellarine Peninsula to sample some of the fantastic produce available in this fabulous region. We visited our friends at Lighthouse Olive Oil where we were given the low down on the process of growing and producing olives. The apprentices were then given the opportunity to sample produce from Drysdale Cheeses.

For lunch we were warmly welcomed by our hosts Terry and Sue Jongebloed at the beautifully situated Clyde Park Winery, who provided an awesome meal of locally produced antipasti and wood fired pizzas.

For dessert it was off to Moorabool to make some gorgeous chocolate truffles under the guidance of the wonderful Lynn at Moorabool Valley Chocolates. It goes without saying that these did not last the ride home.

A big Fifteen thankyou to Olivia Noonan and the team from Geelong Otway Tourism for organizing such a fantastic and memorable day on the Bellarine Peninsula.

The 2008 recruits were given an informative tour of the Prahran Markets and met some of the passionate vendors including Hagen’s organic meats, Damien Pike mushrooms, Theo’s and Son Seafood, Michael Mow Potatoes and the Foodhouse Deli, who provided a wealth of knowledge of all there is to know about their beautiful fresh produce. The new recruits were then given a chance to go shopping for some fresh ingredients and then put together a meal for the market vendors. To finish off the day the crew at Oliveria provided an educational session on olives and the process of making quality olive oil. This was a new and fascinating experience for many of the apprentices, where they learnt to appreciate the subtle differences in a variety of olive oils.

Big thanks to our friend Julie Busch from the Prahran Markets for this great educational experience. What a fantastic way for the new recruits to start their culinary journey at Fifteen.

In June this year we proudly took on board our third group of young recruits to the Fifteen Foundation Chef Training program. The event was marked by a celebration at Fifteen Melbourne with invited family and friends who witnessed the recruits signing of “The Deal”. This is an important symbolic moment where the recruits undertake to abide by the principles of “passion, creativity, respect and commitment” as they embark on their exciting journey with Fifteen. Good luck!

The Fifteen Foundation’s Executive Director, Mr. Peter Brown on behalf of the Board and staff, wholeheartedly acknowledges and supports the timely watershed Australian historical event which took place on the 13th February, 2008, in the National Parliament, Canberra.

Fifteen Foundation (Australia) thanks Prime Minister Rudd for the long awaited apology, which has clearly demonstrating his capacity for leadership and his commitment to the nation’s Indigenous Stolen Generations on behalf of the Australian Government.  By so powerfully acknowledging the pain, degradation and humiliation suffered by many Indigenous Australians, this Government has now established the foundation upon which this nation can work together to ensure a better future for all of its peoples.  This simple and poignant act offers hope and inspiration for all Australians to ensure that atrocities of the past will never be perpetrated upon Indigenous Australians again.  A lasting bridge has been built through the act of saying Sorry and encourages us all.  The Fifteen Foundation applauds and commends this government for taking the courageous step towards making amends and setting things right for the future of us all.  As part of our commitment to reconciliation the Fifteen Foundation (Australia) has set an annual target of 10% indigenous recruitment into our Chef Training Program.

A government initiative, SkillsOne were so impressed with our unique training model they decided to put together a short clip to promote our work to other training organisations. Hear us talk about the Foundation and the importance of apprenticeships within the hospitality industry here.

A recent sourcing trip took us to a commercial mushroom grower just outside the city. Bulla mushrooms have an excellent facility, and gave Fifteen an in depth tour of their operation. Specialising in button and flat mushrooms, Alf and Frank have been in the game for over 20 years. We got to see how mushrooms are cultivated, picked, graded and packed before being sold into markets and restaurants.

From there we headed over to Goona Warra Vineyard where the chef prepared a special menu showcasing this delicious fungus. Paired with some lovely Goona Warra wines, and sitting in the 1860's wine cellar made for a very memorable lunch.

A big thank you to the Australian Mushroom growers, and in particular the amazing Vikki Leng for hosting such a brilliant day.

Over the summer months Melbourne Zoo hosted the Fifteen Foundation for an amazingly informative and fun experience, learning all about the diets and food preparation for the remarkably diverse range of animals housed at the Zoo. There are literally thousands of hungry mouths – and beaks – to feed every day. The apprentices learnt that the Zoo regularly receives pallets of fresh produce from the Footscray markets, and like Fifteen, only use the best quality available! Our zoo guide and host for the day was Acting CEO, Matt Vincent, who gave generously of his time explaining the finer points of zoo food and the dietary needs of the animals. The Fifteen apprentices had the experience of a lifetime, getting up close and personal with the Fairy Penguins, Meerkats, and the Gorillas (although not too close with the later!). It was a fun and educational day for all participants, which, although well outside the normal routine of the Fifteen kitchen had some surprising similarities. Many thanks to all the Zoo staff who made for such a fantastic educational experience.


‘The zoo was awesome…especially preparing the fruit and vegetables for the Gorillas…I didn’t realize that they need to have such a big variety of food to stay healthy.’
  - Andrew, Apprentice

Arnie, Dom and Ian had the crew down to their amazing bakery at theAbbotsford Convent to teach them how to bake ciabatta, turkish bread, pizza dough, sourdough and scones in their 100 year old wood fired ovens. With over 40 years experience, Ian guided our apprentices through the finer points of working a dough to produce a great loaf of bread. A big thank you for everyones time and expertise!