The last evening of the Coastal Living Bru Food and Wine Exhibition at La Montagne Resort was filled with delicious food and a touch of drama to spice up the finals of the Fleur du Cap So You Think You Can Cook Ballito Style competition.
In the end Monique Naudé from New York Restaurant and Bar and her amateur teammate Cassidy van den Heever walked away with top ho ours.
The tension was palpable during the cook-off and everyone finished well inside the allotted time, but Naudé and Van den Heever suffered a blow when their vanilla Panna Cotta was knocked over and ended up on the floor as judging was about to start.
Organisers and judges decided that the pair could recreate their dish.
“Luckily we made more than one Panna Cotta so we just had to make the strawberry and Merlot reduction again so we could produce both dishes,” said Naudé.
She said after everything that happened, they thought there would be know way that they could win the competition.
“When we were called out as the winners, Cassidy shook my arm and said that’s us! I couldn’t believe it!”
Naudé said she made a friend for life with Van den Heever.
“It was such an amazing experience. We are absolutely gobsmacked.”
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