Second Fab Chef Competition A The SA College For Tourism

The SA College for Tourism recently hosted the second annual Fab Chef competition for its students. The competition is the brainchild of college board member Jennifer Preller, with prizes kindly sponsored by Remgro.

The day started with a cooking demonstration by Kevin Rottcher, executive chef at Fleur du Cap Estate, Somerset West. Chef Kevin was assisted by his sous-chef Ian Wallace. The two seasoned chefs demonstrated how to prepare and plate an elegant ladies’ lunch and a more rugged gentlemen’s lunch. The demonstration was thoroughly enjoyed by the students and was also a major inspiration to all the aspiring chefs in the audience. Following the lunch demonstration, the students were also treated to a quick course in biscuit making and had the opportunity to sample four different types of biscuits that Chef Kevin and Chef Ian had prepared beforehand.

The competition then got under way, with nine teams of two students each receiving a mystery basket with six items from which to create a dish of their choice. They were given 10 minutes to plan and collect additional ingredients, before they started preparing. The teams were observed by Chefs Kevin and Ian, Mrs Marissa Lubbe from Remgro and Chef Petru Alberts from the college. The kitchen was a beehive of activity and the students showed good skills and innovation as they went along. All the teams completed their creations in the allotted 60 minutes.

The teams were required to present their dishes to the judges and had to explain how all the ingredients in the mystery basked were used. The judges scored the teams on presentation, colour combination, creativity, utilisation of the mystery basket, and on taste. All the teams presented very creative and attractive dishes to the judges. After much deliberation, the judges finally announced the winning team and the runners-up, who won knive sets and aprons emblazoned with the college logo respectively.

The demonstrations and competition remain a highlight for the students, who gained a lot of knowledge and experience, while having loads of fun.