Local chefs prove their worth in Pretoria

BARBERTON – The Siyaya Young Chefs Competition was recently held in Pretoria. A group of nine Mpumalanga chefs competed. The venue was the Protea Hotel Capital of the Boulevard Hotel Group and numerous activities took place over the weekend.
These included a site inspection, a motivational talk by Monique Keifer, MD of the Protea Hotel Capital, kitchen exposure by Ulric Kiefer and Gary Smith as well as a talk by guest speaker, Derick Tait, MD of the Boulevard Hotel Group, to name but a few.

The young chefs attended presentations about branding and marketing, revenue management, front office, guest relations, social responsibility and housekeeping after which it was time for the big cook-off.

The first prize- and overall winner was Allison Davids of Barberton High School (BHS) who received the following awards:

1. Trophy for best overall achievement on participation, skills, keenness, dedication, approach, conduct, positivity
2. Chefs Knife Award from chef Gary Smith and chef Ulric Kiefer for her attitude, approach and kitchen skills
3. Trainee – year with Protea Hotel Group for 2014 with the possibility of employment and training in her field of interest
4. A weekend at a Protea Hotel.
The second prize went to Hailey-Ann Maans, also of BHS, who received the following:
1. Trophy for the chef with the most oomph
2. Trainee – year with Protea Hotel Group for 2014 with the possibility of employment and training in her field of interest
3. A weekend at a Protea Hotel.
The runner-up was Naledi Gininda of BHS who received the following:
1. Awarded a certificate
2. She may apply for a trainee – year which will be considered according to her Matric results.