High tea earns lodge top marks
Tea is such a versatile drink and can be paired with a huge array of foods.
The South Coast has more than enough reason to be proud of the achievements of two chefs from a local game lodge and spa who walked away as winners of the Unilever High Tea Chef of the year recently.
The heat was on for chefs from around the country that competed in the Unilever Food Solutions’ kitchens competition. It is the oldest culinary competition in the country with five categories; senior, junior, team of four, high tea and an inaugural trio of desserts.
In the High Tea category, chefs had to prepare their high tea cuisine beforehand, pair it with teas and present it to the judges.
Alicia Giliomee and Phindile Shezi from the Gorge Private Game Lodge and Spa came out tops and scooped the award.
Their high tea cuisine consisted of buchu sweetie pie on spekkoek, German apple and rooibos ginger cake with ginger truffle, apricot and mebos beesting, pickled fish and marigold arancini with a mango centre, sesame coated chicken confit and a vanilla poached pear with biltong and blue cheese.
Laurie Smorthwaite-Cooper. a sommelier who judged the category said the category aimed to showcase the versatility of tea and its pairing with food just like wine and whiskey traditionally would be.
“Tea is such a versatile drink and can be paired with a huge array of foods, both savoury and sweet. It has been a privilege to be part of this experience and to celebrate a modern approach to an age-old tradition,” she said
