Mount Maunganui's Freeport Cleaver and Co is the winner of the Great NZ Toastie Takedown thanks to the handiwork of the competition's first female winner.

20-year-old chef Brooke Moore is behind the winning creation ‘Surf, Turf, & Smoke, Monsieur!', which combines house made lamb pastrami, smoked prawns, mozzarella, smoked cheddar sauce, and McClure's Sweet & Spicy Pickles.

The fillings are sandwiched between slices of miso tahini sourdough made by Tauranga's Breadhead, and served with smoked aioli and pickle juice gel.

This was Freeport Cleaver and Co's first time entering the competition, which is in its sixth year and had 185 eateries compete for the 2023 title.

When the job of delivering an award-winning toastie was passed onto Brooke, who runs the restaurants' barbecue section, she was inspired to create a dish that encapsulated the beauty of her hometown.

In the classic surf and turf style of combining seafood and red meat, Brooke says her smoked prawns were used to represent the Mount's famous beachside, while the lamb pastrami served as a nod to the region's sheep-spotted hills.

'It's taken so much trial and error – the original toastie is so much different to what I have now," says Brooke.

'I was doing a shrimp cake as the surf element, but that just wasn't working. There were heaps of different versions of the toastie before I finally settled on the final one.”

A true labour of love, she says the house made lamb pastrami was left for ten days to brine using leftover pickle juice.

'The first batch was spot-on, but when I tried to scale it up using a slightly different method it didn't turn out as well, so it was back to buckets of lamb pickling in the chiller.

'I always try to put my soul into everything, so it's awesome that it paid off.”

Though she has no official qualifications yet, Brooke says she has been a keen foodie her whole life, and hopes to open an eatery of her own some day.

Brooke Moore's winning Surf, Turf, & Smoke, Monsieur! toastie. Photo: Supplied

'I was always obsessed with food and trying new things, and I loved experimenting in the kitchen when I was little."

She's proud of her position as a senior chef de partie, saying the barbecue section isn't a place you would typically find a female chef.

Previous winners of the Great NZ Toastie Takeover include last year's champion Rich Johns of Okere Falls Store, Rotorua, and Steve MacDougall from Mollies - Hotel d'Urville, Blenheim - in 2021.

Kerry Tyack, the competition's head judge, says the panel noticed significant leaps in toastie innovation across the competition's entrants.

Moore with her toastie and award. Photo: Supplied.

'It is clear that around the motu, entrants are taking this comp very seriously and that plenty of thought has gone into the delivery of top flight toasties,” says Kerry.

'Those entrants that mastered this all-important balance delighted the team with terrific toasties full of finesse, innovation and satisfaction.”

Competition organisers also acknowledged Beers in Christchurch and Shining Peak Brewing in New Plymouth as deserving of special mention.

As for next year's Toastie Takedown? Brooke doesn't plan on giving up her champion status.

'I've got to defend the title,” she laughs.

Lyric Waiwiri-Smith/Stuff