After a hectic six months working in mental health and developing recipes for his first cook book, Alby Hailes is taking time out to consider his future.
The winner of the 2021 season of The Great Kiwi Bake Off recently left his job as a psychiatry registrar in Whangarei and is spending the next few months overseas.
The former St Kevin’s College pupil earned an Otago Daily Times Class Act award in 2012 for his achievements on the tennis court, in the classroom and as a public speaker. But it was his win in the TV1 reality show that made him a public figure.
His creations on the show included beetroot borani doughnuts, matcha melting moments and a towering concoction that used more than 40 eggs and included cakes, Swiss roll and meringues.
Hailes says most of his family are interested in food — his grandmother managed to put dessert on the table every night despite raising 11 children — and he likes the creativity involved in both baking and cooking.
While studying medicine in Dunedin, he started posting easy, affordable recipe ideas for fellow students. That later evolved into "trEAT right", a platform that focuses on a positive, balanced approach to eating.
While baking and medicine might appear to have little in common, what we eat has a huge effect on both our physical and mental health, the 27-year-old says.
"Alongside that, it’s not just what we’re actually eating, but our whole approach to food ... "Growing your own food if you can, knowing where your food is coming from and going through that mindful process of cooking it and sharing it with others is healthy eating as opposed to going on a fad diet for a couple of months, which can have all sorts of negative effects on your mental health."
Outside of the kitchen, Hailes has taken up sewing and pottery, plays keyboard, has appeared in a couple of musicals and still plays representative tennis but has been unable to take the sport further due to other commitments.
"The last six months have been quite ridiculous, working fulltime as a doctor while simultaneously writing and photographing a book, which has been like a second fulltime job. That’s why I’m taking a break and thinking about what I’m going to do."
Working in mental health allows him to take a holistic approach with his patients but has been "pretty challenging and full-on" and he sometimes feels as if his hands are tied.
"I feel like New Zealand is failing in many ways in terms of our general social services for people and all those determinants of health which often can be the cause of mental health problems . . . "
"You can try to liaise with social services to make things better for people but people are doing it pretty tough out there, especially our children."
