Unilever Food Solutions COTY

UNILEVER FOOD SOLUTIONS REVEALS CULINARY GREATS AT CHEF OF THE YEAR 2011

A handful of South Africa's finest chefs have walked away with top honours in the Senior, Junior and Team of Four categories in Friday's whirlwind mystery basket finals of the Unilever Food Solutions Chef of the Year 2011.

Unilever Food Solutions Head Office in Umhlanga, Durban was the site of the exciting cook-off which attracted hundreds of entries from some of the most promising chefs in the country, as well as international talent in the Senior and Junior categories. In the end, only 38 chefs were selected, through process of regional finals, to battle it out in their respective categories for the ultimate title of Unilever Food Solutions Chef of the Year 2011 - PLUS their share of R90 000 in cash!

Following a tense three-hour cook-off, it was Deon Vengatass of the Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town who took first place in the Senior category, winning a R15 000 cash prize and the overall title of Unilever Food Solutions Chef of the Year 2011. Brent Assam from Riverside Hotel in Durban placed second, winning R10 000, and Said Sayed Mohamed from Dubai came third, winning R5 000. The winning menu consisted of a starter of kingklip roulade, lentil spread, lemon zesty pickled vegetable scallop tortellini, roe emulsion and asparagus salad; main course of roasted rabbit saddle, quail & rabbit dumpling, butternut puree, roast vegetable and pan fried quail breast jus; with dessert consisting of blueberry cheesecake, strawberry parfait and berry salad.

First place in the Junior category was scooped by Jade van der Spuy from 1000 Hills Chefs School in Durban who walked away with R10 000, second place and R6 000 went to Kayanee (Cherry) Pin from Southern Sun Grayston hotel in Johannesburg and the third prize of R4 000 went to Chang Sheng (Peter) Ye from Radisson Blu in Port Elizabeth. The winning starter was a local salmon and leek mousse with pickled mussels and red cabbage puree; followed by main course of pan fried duck breast, smoky bacon maize cake, carrot points, green beans, wild mushrooms and a Merlot reduction; with dessert of berry and apple white chocolate Charlotte Royale.

The Team of Four category was won by Team Food Design in Johannesburg under the management of Jodi-Ann Pearton, who has now won all four categories of the Unilever Food Solutions Chef of the Year, and team members Kylie Debbo, Megin Miekle and Musa Ndlovu. Second place went to Capitol Caterers in Durban placing second, with Compass Group in Johannesburg taking third place. The winning teams walked away with R20 000, R12 000 and R8 000 respectively. The winning menu consisted of roasted garlic royale served with a bisque, poached prawns, grilled calamari and mange tout as a starter; a duo of chicken roasted on the crown and spiced pork fillet served with sweet potato fondants, pickled beetroot puree and a pumpkin & corn salad for main course; followed by caramel-centred citrus sponge served with nut praline, frozen honey and chocolate mousse and seasonal fruit salsa for dessert.

"The standards of our namesake competition reach higher levels each year, making it the richest and most respected culinary competition in South Africa; and one in which any chef is proud to be selected to participate," says Craig Elliott, Executive Head Chef of Unilever Food Solutions for South Africa, the Middle East and Pakistan. "For Unilever Food Solutions, the competition is about pushing the boundaries of creativity, imagination and skill; about uniting behind our talented chefs and going to great lengths to provide them with solutions and inspiration for use in their own kitchens every day. They, in turn, share their talent, inspiration and innovation with us through the proficiency and passion they put into their dishes. The chefs here today are of world-class standard and we're honoured to be able to offer them a platform from which to launch their careers."

Since its early days almost four decades ago, the Unilever Food Solutions Chef of the Year has facilitated talented South African chefs to go on to achieve great heights. Last year's Senior Chef of the Year Winner, Petrus Madutlela, is a case in point. Following his victory Petrus went on to win the Unilever Food Solutions 'By Invitation Only' challenge earlier this year, where he competed against five handpicked industry greats to walk away with the title and R40 0000 in cash, and is currently working as chef de partie at The Savoy in London

"As part of the SAMEP (South Africa Middle East and Pakistan) cluster within Unilever Food Solutions, we're delighted, for the third year in a row, to have brought a global edge to the competition by hosting chefs from Egypt, Dubai and Pakistan at the cook-off. We believe that not only does this convey enormous prestige and recognition of an entire continent, but looking at the judges' scoring, proves that our local chefs have what it takes to hold their own among the best culinary talent in the world. Congratulations to all the winners," says Eelco Camminga, Vice President of Unilever Food Solutions for South Africa, Middle East and Pakistan.

Each category of the competition took the form of a mystery basket competition, in which contestants were required to showcase their skill, creativity, and innovation using some of the very same ingredients that are staples of professional kitchens in 74 countries around the world, all while attempting to impress the judges by creating dishes that will set them apart from the rest. With just half an hour to design their menu, and then three hours to prepare a starter, main course and dessert - utilising ingredients that they were given just an hour before - the heat was on, as the finalists were all under great pressure to come up with the most innovative, creative and flavourful dishes possible.

The contestants, compulsory ingredients and the judges in each category were:

SENIOR

Dion Vengatass (Mount Nelson, Cape Town)
Mario Hirse (Orion Group, Johannesburg)
Frederico Dias (The Fairway Hotel, Johannesburg)
Brent Assam (Riverside Hotel, Durban)
Charmaine Allan (1000 Hills Chefs School, Durban)
Said Sayed Mohamed (Dubai)
Mohamed Abdalla Barakat (Egypt)
Azeem Khan (Pakistan)

COMPULSORY UNILEVER INGREDIENTS: Knorr Jus, Robertsons Zesty Lemon Pepper, Carte D'Or Strawberry Sauce, Knorr Mash Flakes, Knorr Tomato Pronto

COMPULSORY PROTEINS: 1x whole rabbit, 2x quails, 6x scallops, 300g kingklip

JUDGES: Stephen Billingham (HTA & President of SACA), Paul Hage (Dubai) and Bruce Burns (Delmont Caldow Caterers)

JUNIOR

Chang Sheng (Peter) Ye (Raddison Blu, Port Elizabeth)
Kayanee (Cherry) Pin (Southern Sun Grayston Hotel, Johannesburg)
Erica Blanca Shone (Sandton Sun Hotel, Johannesburg)
Claire Blinkhorn-Street (Coastlands, Durban)
Jade van der Spuy (100 Hills Chefs School, Durban)
Eslam Kamel Elsayed Ali (Egypt)

COMPULSORY UNILEVER INGREDIENTS: Robertsons Veggie Seasoning, Knorr Demi Glace, Carte D'Or Wild Berry Sauce, Knorr Mash Flakes, Carte D'Or Panacotta

COMPULSORY PROTEINS: 600g local salmon, streaky bacon, 1x whole duck, 6x fresh mussels

JUDGES: Mervyn Davies (Sublime Catering), Shaun Munro (Beverly Hills Hotel) and Nadeem Raja (Pakistan)

TEAM OF FOUR

Western Province Caterers (Cape Town)
Royal Mnandi (Cape Town)
Food Design Agency (Johannesburg)
ABB Canteen (Johannesburg)
Capitol Caterers (Durban)
Compass Group (Durban)

COMPULSORY UNILEVER INGREDIENTS: Knorr Smokey BBQ Sauce, Robertsons Veggie Seasoning, Knorr Demi Glace, Knorr Tomato Pronto, Carte D'Or Chocolate Mousse

COMPULSORY PROTEINS: 1x pork fillet, 12 calamari tubes, 12x prawns, 1x whole chicken

JUDGES: Jackie Cameron (Hartford House), Sharmaine Dixon (1000 Hills Chef School), James Khoza (Sandton Sun)

Kitchen judge for all three categories was Sean Webber (Fedics).

The three categories of the competition were open to entries by all levels of chefs - the Senior category to chefs with more than five years of professional culinary experience and the Junior category to chefs with less than five years' experience. The Team of Four category was open to community chefs of all ages.

For further information on the competition, visit www.unileverfoodsolutions.co.za