Unilever By Invitation Only Competition

When love and skill work together, whether it be food or art, the result is always a masterpiece.
See - http://www.saca.co.za/events/unilever__by_invatation_only_competition1.html

Nestlé Golden Chef's Hat Competition

Enter the Nestlé Golden Chefs Hat competition today.
View the website for more info.
http://www.saca.co.za/competitions/nestle_golden_chefs_hat_.html

The Chocolate Academy

Barry Callebaut’s Chocolate Academy provides world-class training for chefs of all levels. Callebaut Chocolate Academies are training centres for artisans and professionals who want to improve skills in chocolate.


With 12 academies worldwide, more than 500 craftsmen attend courses every week. The UK Chocolate Academy, based in banbury, Oxfordshire, is run by Beverley Dunkley and Julie Sharp. Purposebuilt and state-of-the-art, its eight individual work stations allow for one-to-one tuition. It is situated adjacent to the Barry Callebaut factory allowing easy access for tours.

“Our courses have been designed to offer practical and theoretical help for the novice chocolatier through to the chocolate artisan, pastry chef,confectioner, baker, caterer and lecturer,” explains Duncan.
“We are extremely proud to have distinguished chefs from both the UK and Europe to help run our courses. All have extensive knowledge and experience in the field of chocolate. We would welcome the opportunity to share with you our expertise to expand and fulfil your chocolate creativity.”

To view the full range of courses and sign up to the Academy newsletter visit www.chocolate-academy

MasterChef SA To Be Filmed At Nederburg

Paarl winery Nederburg has been chosen as the setting for the upcoming M-Net series, MasterChef SA. The kitchen for the show will be housed inside Nederburg’s Johann Graue Auction Hall, the venue where the Nederburg Auction is usually held. The 1000 m2 venue has been revamped to accommodate 20 cooking stations for the 18 week show.

Anne Davis, M-Net’s senior commissioning editor, said, “We wanted to shoot in the Winelands because Cape vineyards are immediately recognisable to local and international viewers as distinctly South African.” Nederburg’s location is also convenient for any off-site challenges in and around the country’s gourmet capital.
Set in 49 hectares of the Paarl valley and boasting original Cape Dutch architecture, Nederburg will certainly make a picturesque setting for the series.
The winery will also provide a customised sommelier course, one-on-one master classes in wine presented by Nederburg’s internationally acclaimed cellar master Razvan Macici, and a year’s supply of Nederburg Winemaster’s Reserve Wines as prizes.
MasterChef South Africa premieres on Tuesday 20 March 2012 at 7.30pm.

Competitions A Plenty For All Chefs

COTY Unilever Chef of the Year

A prestigious Chefs Competition that is run annually, it highlights the best talent that South African Chefs have to offer. Winning chefs throughout different categories win various cash prizes. Enries close 13 July 2012. The competition starts: 31 July in Kwazulu Natal, 1 August in Johannesburg and the 3rd of August in Cape Town.

City and Guilds Skills Challenge

A annual Student competition aimed at all City & Guilds SACA registered training providers. It is a competition that challenges students to the basics – Knife skills, deboning fish, butchery, etc. The winning school receives the floating trophy and R5000 cash. This is at Hostex 2012 from 15 to 17 May. Enquiries: events2@saca.co.za

McCain Tribute to Good Taste

Aimed at young chefs, whom must create innovative vegetarian menus using as many McCain products as possible.  The winning chef receives a cash prize of R7500 and a floating trophy.  This is at Hostex 2012 from 15 to 17 May.  For more information: events2@saca.co.za

Nestlé Golden Chefs Hat

A very prestigious competition which Nestlé runs around the world aimed at apprentice chefs. In which finalists will use Nestlé professional products in a mystery basket. Cash prize is R10 000 to each winning participant and a trip overseas. This is at Hostex 2012 from 15 to 17 May.

Christmas Wishes

The Festive Season is a time of sharing with our loved ones.

As we prepare for this busy and joyous holiday season, it is a time to reflect on the year that has passed. We have, as the Association, experienced much in 2011. For the first time in our history; we have over 6000 active members belonging to the South African Chefs Association. 2011 saw exciting competitions, prestigious events, major fundraising work done, committees established, a new board of directors selected, careers developed and friends made.

We have every confidence that 2012 will take the organisation to undreamed of heights and we look forward to serving the culinary industry of South Africa and developing the diversity that makes us such a unique culinary nation. May I take this opportunity to thank all members, sponsors, patrons and staff for journeying with us during 2011. May you have a very happy holiday season, and a New Year filled with peace, joy, productivity and prosperity.

Culinary Regards
Stephen Billingham
SACA President

Western Cape Takes The Honours.

Last night saw the announcement of the Eat Out Top Ten Restaurants in the country and the Western Cape walked away with the overwhelming majority of awards.

Restaurant of the Year: The Greenhouse, with Chef Peter Tempelhoff

Chef of the Year:  Luke Dale-Roberts of The Test Kitchen

Service Excellence Award: The Roundhouse




The Top 10 Restaurants were announced as follows:

1.  The Greenhouse, with Peter Tempelhoff, Cape Town
2.  The Test Kitchen, with Luke Dale-Roberts, Cape Town
3.  The Tasting Room, with Chef Margot Janse, Franschhoek
4.   The Roundhouse, with Chefs PJ Vadas and Eric Bulpitt, Cape Town
5.   Overture, with Chef Bertus Basson, Stellenbosch
6.   Terroir, with Chef Michael Broughton, Stellenbosch
7.   DW Eleven-13, with Chef Marthinus Ferreira, Johannesburg
8.   Jordan Restaurant, with Chef George Jardine, Stellenbosch
9.   Nobu, with Chef Hideki Maeda, One&Only Cape Town
10.  La Colombe, with Chef Scot Kirton, Cape Town

Masterchef Comes To South Africa

MasterChef South Africa, M-Net’s brand new cooking show, is on a country-wide search for South Africa’s most talented amateur chefs. This popular entertainment show has wowed viewers in over 33 countries, helping amateur cooks to realise their food dreams, and now it’s your opportunity to become South Africa’s king or queen of the kitchen.

The former SA Chefs' Association vice-president and Sunday Times' 2008 Chef of the Year has been appointed culinary producer for the show and has already begun acquiring the ingredients and equipment for the programme, which will start airing on M-Net in March.

"In all my travels the common ingredient is always flavour," said Tanzer. "Some of my favourite dishes are those cooked by my mum - simple, everyday food but always with great flavour."

M-Net and producers Curious Pictures and Lucky Bean Media, who beat 14 other South African production companies to land the programme, have invited amateur cooks in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town to audition in December.

In July, when local viewers were gripped by the Australian version of the show, The Times asked M-Net about a local spin-off. Spokesman Lani Lombard said at the time: "Masterchef has been a phenomenal success globally. In terms of reality show formats, it's the next 'big thing'. When we revamped our schedules in April we decided to introduce an international reality show slot for our DStv viewers at 6.30pm, Mondays to Thursdays. It was the obvious choice to kick off the slot with Masterchef Australia."

This year alone, countries such as Portugal, Sweden, Ukraine, Romania, Peru, Malaysia, Indonesia, Denmark, Croatia, Finland, Ireland and the Philippines have developed local versions of the show.

M-Net said auditions would be held in Johannesburg on December3, in Cape Town on December10 and in Durban on December17. Short-listed candidates will be called for another round of auditions the following day. Said Tanzer: "We've spent the last couple of months researching and developing challenges and tasks from across the broad spectrum of local cuisine . It really does not matter if you grill, poach, braise, roast, steam or bake food - everyone wants his food to taste great."

For Masterchef SA, contestants have to be at least 18 years of age by the beginning of next year and must not have professional cooking experience. Prizes and the judging panel are to be announced.

The Netherlands Win Chocolate Masters 2011 In Paris

Frank Haasnoot of the Netherlands proudly wins the Chocolate Masters Toque 2011 in Paris.
His masterpiece is called Warrior and he describes it as, 'Warrior of darkness is in search for cocoa in the mysteries of the jungle'.

Canada Looks Set To take Top Honours

Veronique Rousseau is the first female candidate to represent Canada at the World Chocolate Masters Final.

World Chocolate Masters 2011

One of the incarnations of the God Quetzalcoatl.

This 1,8 metre masterpiece is one of 19 created live in front of a studio audience.

Created by Mariusz Buritta representing Eastern Europe, the showpiece presents one of the Quetzalcoatl's incarnations, the feathery snake. The snake symbolises the earth, and the feathers symbolise the wind. The gold coins and the fruits of the cocoa tree represent prosperity.

One of Quetzalcoatl's gifts to the Aztecs was the ability to use the calendar, which I have shown in my showpiece. Techniques I used are poured chocolate, modelling chocolate, sculpturing, plastic chocolate, and coloured elements.

Goldcrest Young Chef Of The Year

The annual Goldcrest Young Chef of the Year competition is a big event on the chefs school calendar. It took place yesterday at the South African Chefs Association’s Bill Gallagher Demo Theatre at the Centre for Culinary Excellence, in Johannesburg.

Entrance is open to students currently studying at a recognised chef school and under the age of 25 years. They had to submit recipes and photographs of a starter, main course and dessert using Goldcrest products.

From the 110 entries, 12 chefs were selected to compete in the finals, to demonstrate their understanding of and creativity using Goldcrest products in a starter, main course and dessert.

The winner is Zama Ngwane, a 23-year old second year student at HTA School of Culinary Art.

Her winning menu was:

-       Starter: Citrus cured salmon on pickled plums on a lentil salad

-       Main course: Smoked mushroom chicken ballontine, potato fondant, baked sweet corn custard and seasonal vegetables

-       Dessert: Lemon tart, strawberries in sauce and passion fruit cream

Ngwane says she became a chef because she always loved being in the kitchen and cooking, and has devoured recipe books and the BBC Food Channel for years. Prior to joining HTA, she completed a BA Degree majoring in Politics and French at Rhodes University.

Her first place prize is R7500 as well as a two-week all-expenses-paid work experience trip to one of Reuben Riffel’s restaurants in Cape Town. This is an opportunity to learn from this award-winning chef and spend time absorbing information while working in a top restaurant.

Ngwane says with a competition of this nature, where you have developed the recipes beforehand and practiced them intensively, there is tremendous pressure on the day as “everything has to be extra-perfect”. She says her recipes were a combination of ingredients she likes as well as ideas she has seen in industry. She also looked for recipes she could manipulate to maximise the flavour of Goldcrest’s ingredients.

In second place is Jade van der Spuy from 1000 Hills Chefs School, who wins R5000. In third place is Jasmin Marsal from Capsicum PE, who wins R3000.

The contestants included: Tracey Leigh Keet from Northlink College; Gregory Oberholzer from Capsicum PE; Sonel Venter from HTA; Dustin Clayton from 1000 Hills Chefs School; Cassey Goliath from Capsicum PE; Roxanne Roussouw from Capsicum Boksburg; Kirsten Howell from HTA, Mikhail Adriaanse from HTA; and Bonnie Danskin from Capsicum Sunninghill.

This year a prize was awarded to the school with the most entrants into the finals – a Thermomix worth around R12 000 to R15 000 – which was won by HTA School of Culinary Art, with four finalists.

Judges for the competition were: Jodi-Ann Pearton (head judge and SACA competitions director); Nicky Gibbs (kitchen judge); David Keir (Fedics); and Alistair Esau (BOSASA and SACA vice-president).

Jannicke van As, brand manager at Patley’s, says of the competition: “We would like to inspire the chefs and grow the business. It’s a good opportunity for the chefs to experience competition work and grow. It’s also good for the schools, as they also get the exposure.”

Goldcrest supports the industry and is involved in various other cooking competitions competition.

Stephen Billingham, SACA president, says the purpose of competition is the culinary experience, journey and education. He says it is about being pushed and learning to push yourself as a chef.

Pearton congratulated all of the finalists and reinforced the fact that they are all indeed winners, have stood out from over 100 entries. She urged them to continue entering competitions as part of their ongoing education.

Platters 5 Star Winners

Well done to the following wine makers in the Hermanus Wine Route for receiving Platter 5-Star rating for their wines for 2012. The amount of 5-Star winners reduced from 58 in 2010 to 45 in 2011. A total of 7,000 wines were evaluated for this year's Platters Guide.

Pinot Noir

Newton Johnson - Domain, 2010

Red Blend

Bouchard Finlayson - Hannibal, 2010

Sauvignon Blanc

Hermanuspietersfontein - No 5, 2010

Ocean Basket Opens Branch In Mauritius

The Ocean Basket franchise is ready to open yet another international branch at the newly developed Bagatelle Mall in Mauritius.

This major offshore mall covers an area of  40 000sqm and has a number of local South African retailers and restaurants.

Ocean Basket’s menu will offer fresh line fish daily, as well as traditional Mauritian scampi.

“Patrons can look forward to the taste of South African flava’ the Ocean Basket way,” says the chain’s management.

Joburg And Cape Town Go Bavarian

Around 10,000 litres of beer was downed at the Oktober Bierfest in Cape Town this past weekend and now the organisers of the event are expecting Gauteng’s beer lovers to show they have a bigger thirst at the Montecasino Outdoor Event Area in Johannesburg at the end of the month.

Over 6,000 people attended the Cape Town festival which took place on the Newlands Brewery Village Green.

In addition to the beer, 400 bottles of wine were sold and helped to wash down 3,000 sausages, 2,000 portions of chips and 2,000 portions of chicken strips.

The South African events are modelled on the annual Oktoberfest in Munich which is the world’s biggest beer festival and this year attracted 6.9-million visitors who each drank more than a litre of beer.

While the two South African events may be smaller, they offer many traditional features, such as frauleins serving armfuls of Bavarian-styled beer, an Oompah band and an array of German cuisine.

The German ambassador to South Africa is scheduled to open the Montecasino event on October 27 which will run for three days.

Oktober Bierfest has partnered with the South African Breweries Ltd (SAB) which has brewed three Bavarian-styled beers for the event. SAB’s chief brewer Martin Brooks said: “SAB has a long and established tradition of brewing excellence in South Africa. Behind the big brand names at SAB are some of the country’s best brewers, who are responsible for making the micro-brewed craft beers that we are showcasing at the Oktober Bierfest.
“They have harnessed their passion and expertise to produce the Munich Dunkel, Krystal Weiss and Oktoberfest Bier which will delight beer lovers.”
Raith Gourmet’s German chefs are responsible for the food at the two SA events and Southern Sun is offering discounted rates at its hotels to Oktober Bierfest ticket holders.

From Back Of House To Front Of House

From back of  house to front of house this show has it all.
The annual INFOCHEF Careers day will take place on 20 October 2011 from 08h00 'till 14h00.  The venue is the Protea Auditorium at the School of Tourism, Bunting Road Campus, The University of Johannesburg.

If someone you know is considering a career in the tourism hospitality industry, then this is the show to attend.  Entrance fee is a very affordable R20.00 per delegate and the widest range of topics will be under discussion and on exhibit.

For more info contact Charl Kriek events@saca.co.za

SmartMenu Gives Instant Table Ordering At A Touch

A leading supplier of mobile computing solutions to the retail and hospitality markets, has announced the immediate availability of SmartMenu, a new ‘at-the-table’ ordering solution. It has been designed to meet the needs of family dining and other quick service hospitality environments including hotel room service and, according to current trials of wireless ordering solutions, will enable the delivery of faster service and an increase in food and beverage revenues of up to 63%.

The SmartMenu has a similar look and feel to a normal menu and can detail all available food and beverage items using multiple pages, each of which can be designed to meet the house style. Diners can place orders directly from the table when they want to without having to wait to be served by a member of staff.

This self-serve solution uses a wireless network to send orders straight from the table to the kitchen or bar for rapid fulfillment. Menus can be quickly changed as required and SmartMenu can also integrate with existing POS terminals to streamline the billing process.

Sunday Times Food Awards In Association with Foodcorp

The Sunday Times Food Awards, in association with Foodcorp, is pleased to call for entries to the Sunday Times Stalwart of the Kitchen 2011.

This competition, introduced last year, gives long-overdue recognition to the large group of chefs and cooks over the age of 35 who have no formal qualifications, yet make up the backbone of the industry.

These unsung heroes of the kitchen work with integrity, produce, create and serve, but are seldom granted their moment in the limelight.

Approved by the South African Chefs Association, the competition has been developed in close consultation with Andrew Atkinson, SACA’s competitions director.

Should you have any queries, please e-mail: foodawards@sundaytimes.co.za

World Chocolate Masters Competition - Watch The Final

The World Chocolate Masters is the world’s leading global culinary competition solely dedicated to the art of chocolate.
 

A spectacular initiative by Callebaut, Barry and Carma.The competition will be held in Paris at the Salon du Chocolat Professionnel.

Since its creation in 2005, the competition has developed its unique identity for being the most challenging chocolate competition that focuses on the individual skills of each contestant. The theme of this year’s edition is “Quetzalcoatl’s Gift, which asks participants to find inspiration in the mysterious and super natural origins of Cocoa in the rainforests of South America.

This year, the fourth edition of this unique competition will feature 19 finalists coming from different countries around the world. Over the last eighteen months, each of them has successfully competed for the title of “National Chocolate Master” in their own country, thereby qualifying for the final.

During the final, each contestant will produce a chocolate cake, two pralines, a dessert and one exceptional artistic creation based on the theme of “Cocoa, the gift of Quetzalcoatl”, transporting spectators back in history to the ancient Aztec civilisation of Mexico. A 21-member jury made up of celebrity pastry chefs and chocolate masters will evaluate their work during this three-day competition.

A prize package with a total value of 75.000 € will be shared among the contestants of the “World Chocolate Masters 2011”. This package will comprise money as well as professional material and will be divided in proportion to the contestants’ ranking and the scores they achieve during the final.


The Olympic Heat Is On For Culinary Team SA

Fruit & Veg City, South Africa’s premier fresh produce retailer with over 100 stores nationwide, announced its patronage of SACA (The South African Chefs Association) as a way of confirming their passion and commitment to the culinary industry in South Africa. This makes Fruit & Veg City an official patron of the South African Chefs Association.

Culinary Team South Africa, ranked 10th in the world and consisting of seven junior members and 12 senior members, were recently awarded a bevy of medals at the Culinary World Cup in Luxemburg –seven silver medals in ‘hot kitchen’, seven silver medals in ‘cold table’, one silver in the ‘individual showpiece’ section and three bronze medals in ‘individual entries’. This national team will be competing internationally in the oldest and most prestigious culinary competition in the world, the IKA Culinary Olympics 2012, hosted in Erfurt, Germany.

The team are already working on perfecting their dishes for the Olympics at monthly four-day training sessions. The preparation and training for this prestigious culinary competition entails hard work as this group of gifted chefs will have to perfect their own menu, as well as practice each recipe on the Olympic menu. “We are delighted to have Fruit & Veg City on board as a partner in assisting the team with their fresh produce requirements.  As fresh food sponsor they supply the National Culinary Team of South Africa with produce for every month’s practice. It is going to be a pleasure for the team to be able to go and do the shopping in a quality store with quality ingredients. This will contribute to the conditioning and success of the culinary team in preparation for the Olympics in October 2012.” says Bruce Burns, Culinary Team South Africa Manager.

Source: SACA