Gelato chef to represent SA in international competition

A 29-year-old Pretoria east Gelato chef will be flying the African flag high when he represents the continent in the world finals of the Gelato Festival – World Master this December.

Brooklyn’s Michael Dube, a Gelato chef for the Aroma Gelato and Waffle lounge, joins a group of handpicked contestants whose gelato-making skills might earn them the title of world master.

His job as a Gelato chef involves putting ingredients together to make a frozen dessert of Italian origin known as gelato, a job he loves very much.

He is one of four South Africans that qualified for the finale of the competition.

He couldn’t hold back his excitement when he told Rekord that “it is something I have always wanted to do”.

“I didn’t think I would make it this far in the competition, I am so excited,” the father of one said.

The competition that will be hosted in Italy will see Dube’s recipe, among 31 others, being evaluated by a panel of judges.

The father of one had initially entered the national level of the competition and his apple pie-flavoured gelato won the hearts of judges, advancing him to the international level.

“I have been trying about two to four different flavours and I brought out my one choice of flavour which is the apple pie gelato,” he said.

“This is the same flavour I have used for the World Masters.”

The mouth-watering flavour is made with apple and cinnamon ripple and coconut cookies and has since been adopted at Aroma shops as one of the best selling flavours.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the competition will be held virtually where judges will prepare Dube’s recipe themselves based on his written instructions.

“I had to send through my recipe with a list of all the ingredients I use and the methods used to put everything together. This included pictures of how the final product is supposed to look, ” he said.

“The judges will then follow my recipe to put together the dessert, then taste and evaluate it.”

The competition will run over the first two days of December, with the first day being for the preparation of the dessert and the second being for the final judgement.

With Italy being the home of Gelato, Dube said he hoped the competition would afford him a trip to the country where he was guaranteed to learn more.

“I really would have loved to travel to Italy; there’s so much to see and learn from others and I think I would come back having sharpened my skills,” he said.

“But I really appreciate the opportunity.”

A qualified chef by profession, Dube holds a diploma in baking and cooking studies from Bulawayo Polytechnic. He was born and raised in Zimbabwe by his businessman grandfather who always encouraged him to do what he loves.

“I always loved cooking. I would be the one cooking for everyone at home and getting compliments for it.

“If I win, my grandfather will be so proud of me.”

Dube said his dream was to own a restaurant and gelato shop one day.

He thanked his partner and employer for the support they showed him during all the stages of the competition.

Friends and colleagues have since wished him luck ahead of the competition and have shared some of their well wishes on video.