Chefs battle it out at Ultimate Munch Off

The Chronicle

Yvonne Ncube, Showbiz Correspondent 

THE Ultimate Munch Off, a cooking competition added to the Munch & Sip Food Festival took place on Saturday at the Hillside Conservancy Tea Room with three pairs of chefs competing for a R5 000 prize money. 

 The teams which were made up of the Head Chef and Sous Chef teams were tasked with creating inventive traditional meals using Delele (Okra), Umfutshwa (dried veggies), Boabob juice, and a secret ingredient.

 Team The Pride comprised of Chef Johan and Chef Sama; Team Culinary Cassanova comprised of Chef Tino and Chef Thandie, and Team Elite Cuisine comprised of Chef Lenin and Chef Nelson. They all competed to create their most artistic meals in 45 minutes.

 A panel of four assessors chosen from the sponsors – Greens Supermarkets and Country Foods assessed work presentation, kitchen cleanliness, food flavour, and time management. The judges admitted that choosing a winner of the inaugural competition was difficult because all of the meals were superb. 

However, Team The Pride was eliminated in the first round, with the other teams tied. The final round saw Team Elite Cuisine triumph and take home the prize. 

 In an interview, Team Elite Cuisine Head Chef Lenin said: “The competition was quite an experience. We started a bit confused and we didn’t know what to do and where to start. But we managed to pull something off in 45 minutes. 

“I’m glad the judges liked the food and we managed to take the prize home in the second round. We have medals which are going into our collection and that’s a big win.”

 Lenin conceded that competition was stiff.

Teams wait for results after serving the judges

“Our motto is ‘we make it happen’ so whenever we’re called for cooking, we strive to make something memorable and enjoyable. It was quite a tough competition because the other teams were quite good too,” he said.

 Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Munch & Sip founder Mandipa Masuku said they had initially planned to conduct the chef’s competition at the Munch & Sip festival. 

“Munch & Sip was oversubscribed for the competition to take place so we just decided to postpone it. We needed a quiet place where a few people could attend so as to follow the proceedings of the competition,” said Masuku. 

“We needed it to be small and intimate.”

 She said the teams which took part auditioned and stood out. 

“The three teams auditioned and stood out from the 15 other applications that we received. Some were good, some extremely good, but we felt that these teams that took part really understood what we were trying to achieve. 

“For their efforts, the winners took home R5 000 with the second-placed pair walking away with R1 500. The second runners-up received hampers. Each team was awarded medals,” Masuku said.

 It was a great outing as the few people who attended got time to socialise, engage and enjoy their food and drinks while listening to music under the shed of trees and enjoying the cool breeze from the dam. – @SeehYvonne 

Article Source: The Chronicle

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