Culinary arts pupils Lauren Wright and Abby Johnson were one of three teams to win gold medals in the final of the New Zealand Secondary Schools' Culinary Challenge, held in Auckland on Friday.
Lauren put their success down to their ability to stay ''calm and relaxed'' during an intense 90-minute contest, in which teams from nine schools cooked their dishes in the same kitchen.
''We were focusing on our own dish. There wasn't enough time to look at other people.''
The pair also practised together before the final and communicated well as a team.
They did not have a favourite food to work with and instead liked to ''experiment with different things''.
Their winning dishes were a leek and thyme tarte Tatin entree and a chicken supreme main.
Ben Bayly, from hit show My Kitchen Rules, was oneof the judges.
The pair qualified by winning the Southern Secondary Schools' Culinary Challenge in Timaru.
