Natural Born Grillers compete in challenge
The Nandos team were pleased with how the regional challenge went after the grillers battled it out on Thursday.
A cold Thursday morning, May 18, was warmed up by the roaring fires of 19 Nandos grillers battling it out for a chance to win a trip to Malaysia.
For over 20 years, the Nandos Grillers Challenge has been the platform for the best grillers to represent South Africa on the global stage.
This year’s northern region grillers from 54 stores spread between Gauteng, North West and Limpopo flocked to Nandos Suncardia in central Pretoria for a chance to become one of two grillers representing the northern region in upcoming nationals this June.
Out of about 150 applicants, the 19 chosen to compete had to prepare one full chicken mild, one half chicken hot, a quarter chicken leg lemon and herb and a quarter chicken breast mild.
A panel of judges critiqued the contestants on appearance, portioning and basting, skin and tenderness, texture, and temperature as well as the brand standard of their dishes.
GRILLERS STRICTLY JUDGED AT CHALLENGE
“We normally use this opportunity to change lives, we like to say we change lives one chicken at a time. You can imagine what this could do for someone from a disadvantaged background to have the chance to visit Malaysia, it would be incredible,” said regional training manager, Enock Bambo.
Out of the 19 grillers two were chosen to represent their region at the national challenge, each region selects two grillers to represent them and a team of three that win at the nationals gets to travel to represent South Africa at the international challenge.
Each region also has a ‘Wildcard’ draw. This means a third-placed contestant that didn’t get into the nationals enters a draw whereby they may win the trip to Malaysia with the other two national champs.
Phutengo Mojapelo emerged as the winner at this year’s challenge, while Sandile Shongwe came in second. Thakani Sandani entered the draw as the region’s wildcard.
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“All the hard work and dedication paid off. I entered last year and they beat me so badly, so since then I have been training so hard,” Mojapelo said.
“I’m nervous but I still have to work so much harder than I did before. I have to win this for South Africa,” Mojapelo remarked when talking about the upcoming nationals.
The Nandos team were pleased with how the regional challenge went and hope for the best for their winners and wildcard.
“I love his energy,” said regional marketing director, Brian Mangava.
“He’s a really passionate young man that embodies the attributes that work for the Nandos family,” Mangava continued.
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