Winning the chef competition at Remarkables Market may encourage Jayne McCanny to explore a career in cuisine.
The Queenstown resident, who works in recruitment, was overjoyed to win the final, after five months, at the market in the Red Barn, Hawthorne Dr, on Saturday.
Miss McCanny said she had been cooking since she was 10 years old with her mother, but it was only since living in Queenstown, where there was greater variety of fresh produce available than in Scotland, that she had started to become adventurous in the kitchen.
''I'm so pleased [and] relieved, because I've been reading nothing but cook books for the past week,'' she laughed.
''I'm pretty proud of myself.''
Miss McCanny won a prize package of a hand-made knife by Peter Lorimer, Waitiri Creek wine, Parioli olive oil, and Mediterranean Market cooking class vouchers, pinot noir glasses from H&J Smith and a $200 voucher to spend at market stalls.
Final judge Ben Batterbury, award-winning executive chef at the Rees, told the market crowd it had been difficult to choose a winner between finalists Miss McCanny and Lucy Hunt, of Arrowtown.
Ms Hunt won a $50 market voucher. Both amateur chefs were given surprise ingredients sourced from stallholders and given limited time in makeshift kitchens to prepare an entree and a main dish each.
TV3 series World Kitchen host and chef Nici Wickes, of Port Waikato, was the final's special guest.
Ms Wickes said she and her crew loved filming in markets in 23 countries over the past four years to get a flavour not only of the native cuisine, but also the culture.
She said she could make a series just from the produce of the lower South Island and Remarkables Market was ''a little gem''.
''Everything is top-notch here, which I like, and great variety too.''
The last Remarkables Market for the season will be on March 30, and will include an Easter egg hunt.
