Move over ham, here comes lamb
It’s official, lamb will take centre stage on Kiwi Christmas tables this year.
New Zealand teenagers will be transforming typical, run-of the-mill burgers into healthy, gourmet masterpieces to impress culinary judges in the annual secondary school burger competition.
Encouraging teenagers to develop creative cooking skills is one of the aims of the competition, run by Beef + Lamb New Zealand.
The competition requires students to take a base product of beef or lamb and turn it into an appetising burger, taking into account nutritional value, appearance and flavour harmonies.
"The competition is now in its ninth year and the thought, skill and preparation shown by the young competitors every year is always impressive", says Lisa Moloney, Beef + Lamb New Zealand.
Eight regional competitions will be held around the country over the next three weeks, with more than 100 students entering nationwide.
Competitors are given one hour to cook their gourmet burger from scratch. Chef tutors from local Polytechs judge the students on their preparation and working methods during the hour then score the final product on degree of cooking, dish composition and flavour.
The regional winners in both the junior and senior section will go on to compete in the national final in Auckland in September, with prizes of $750 for the senior winner and $500 for the junior, with $1,000 going to each winning school.
Legal controls on the movement of fruits and vegetables are now in place in Auckland’s Mt Roskill suburb, says Biosecurity New Zealand Commissioner North Mike Inglis.
Arable growers worried that some weeds in their crops may have developed herbicide resistance can now get the suspected plants tested for free.
Fruit growers and exporters are worried following the discovery of a male Queensland fruit fly in Auckland this week.
Dairy prices have jumped in the overnight Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction, breaking a five-month negative streak.
Alliance Group chief executive Willie Wiese is leaving the company after three years in the role.
A booklet produced in 2025 by the Rotoiti 15 trust, Department of Conservation and Scion – now part of the Bioeconomy Science Institute – aims to help people identify insect pests and diseases.

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