Meg Jessup

My name is Meg Jessup, I’m a third year apprentice chef studying through TasTAFE and working at Country Club Tasmania. I am extremely humbled to be invited as a guest chef to the Scallop Fiesta this year, and am looking forward to sharing my passion for cooking with the North-East community.

I was born and raised in Scottsdale, so this invitation hits particularly close to home for me. By sixteen I knew I wanted to be a chef, and spent the last two years of school committing to attainting my qualifications.

I started my apprenticeship with CCT in 2023, and have done my best to soak up all the knowledge of the chefs around me and learn from their skills.

In 2024, I had the honour of participating in the Nestle Golden Chefs Hat competition for young chefs around Australia and New Zealand. I was lucky enough to win the Tasmanian regionals, and spent 5 days in Melbourne exploring the modern Australian food scene, tasting inspiring dishes and making industry connections with many incredibly talented chefs. While the pressure was intense, the outcomes for participating in opportunities like cooking competitions are amazing for personal growth.

Experiences such as Golden Chefs have begun to shape the way I think about my own food, and being inspired to create unique dishes of my own.

I am very excited to be a part of the Scallop Fiesta this year, and hope I can bring something unique to my demonstration. This will be my first time doing a live cooking demo, so hopefully the nerves turn into nervous energy! I am just so grateful to be recognised by the community I grew up with and look forward to sharing my growth with everyone.