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Kerry Tyack appears relaxed while enjoying a Friday evening dinner at Angus Rd Eatery in Mystery Creek. It’s hard to believe that he was the chief judge of Monteith’s Wild Food Challenge. He has a careful look at the food that’s placed in front of him, and he checks the appeal visually. He loves a rabbit, hare as well as baby leeks and bacon made from pork cheek. Tyack claims that the beer is served at the ideal temperature, about 8 degrees Celsius but not so cold that you cuisinart can opener (Nowinhistory.com)’t taste the taste. The beer is believed to be very good. Although it has sweet components, the beer’s bitterness will cut through them. Tyack is running Monteith’s Wild Food Challenge, the 17-year-old beer and food pairing competition, since its inception. The contest attracted 123 entries this year; the final 12 winners are Hamilton’s Angus Rd Eatery, Victoria Street Bistro, and Hamilton’s Angus Rd Eatery. As relaxed as Tyack appears tonight however, he’s acutely aware of the requirements of his job. Alan Brown, a professional chef at Auckland University of Technology, will serve as Tyack’s co-judge during the finals. The first round of judging took place anonymously by a team of experts using a set of standards and score sheets. every dish was judged with 100 percent, and judges had to justify the reasons they deducted points. Finals are an open contest however, the chefs know Tyack and Brown are coming, this is the end of it, there is no down-to-the-wire cook off. The two have had lunch at Plateau Restaurant, Taupo and then drove to Angus Rd on the outskirts Hamilton. It’s an early start with the hare and rabbit. The sous-vide wild meat fillet is then followed by Victoria Street Bistro’s menu with celeriac and sea chicory, served with Monteith’s Double Hopped IPA. Tyack may not consume everything on his plates and will still have an idea of what he thinks of the merits of each of the Hamilton finalists. When he returns home to Auckland afterward, he’ll have completed seven assignments. Tyack’s set a standard his evaluations so far. The menu tonight is likely to either meet that standard or exceed it or fall down. There are two dishes that have met the standards, and they’re superior to any other. The match between food and drink is the main element of the contest. After that, Tyack and Brown are trying to determine if all the ingredients in the menu are fulfilled by the technical proficiency of the cooking as well as the temperature at which they serve the beer and food in addition to the presentation, exuberance of the dish and innovation, the thought that’s gone into the dish. The food’s eatingability is another crucial element. He also asks basic questions like , are the ingredients in good condition well balanced and fresh are they out of balance. Sometimes, there are too many elements that are not on the plate that pulls them all together. At Angus Rd, the carrot puree can do this, as does the celeriac cream from VSB. Tyack is a former Waikato lad — born in Te Awamutu, has lived in Morrinsville and Thames who was taught cooking as a child. He has a wealth of experience in food evaluation. He is a foodwriter or critic as well as a hospitality commentator. He has been associated with the Monteith’s challenge for many years. He also acts as chief judge of other competitions such as the Cuisine NZ Good Food Awards and Silver Fern Farms Premier Selection Awards. Last year, he ate 171 times, mostly as a result of duty that covered everything from high-end dining establishments to rural cafes that specialize in baking at home. When he was a student at the university employed in bars and cafes. His first attempt at judging was for the Cervena Plates contest during the early 1990s. He says it took him several years to be able to trust his own palate. One of the most important qualifications for being a food critic is clearly to enjoy food and be competent at cooking yourself. Tyack is a fan of the simplicity in his kitchen and will often attempt to recreate the taste of a restaurant. Brown and Tyack are both present during tonight’s judging. They are awed by the use of rabbit and hare at Angus Rd, they praise the quality of the food as well as the thoughtfully selected vegetables, the vibrant colour and the visual appeal. At Victoria Street Bistro, they admire the way the meat enhances the bitterness the Double Hopped IPA. A lot of chefs attempt to offset the bitterness, compensate for it. At VSB they’ve never done this. It’s smart and well-judged and the chef’s creative, tasty take on surf-and turf. All failures at either place are dealt with in a cone of silence. But how do the Hamilton dishes stack up against the judges’ standard in the past? Tyack smiles «I’m not going to tell you».