Mzansi’s new boerewors champion is Vikash Bachu (38) from Ladysmith. He entered no fewer than 12 times before being announced the winner of the 2021 Championship Boerewors Competition (South Africa’s leading boerewors competition) recently.
Bachu’s winning recipe – now South Africa’s number one boerewors – will be available in Shoprite and Checkers stores nationwide from Friday, September 10. “I’m absolutely delighted to finally win the Championship Boerewors Competition. It was about time!” laughs Bachu, adding that “all good things come from Ladysmith.” Vikash is a meat market regional manager for Shoprite and has four children (two girls and two boys aged between five and 16 years old) who are extremely proud of their dad. Speaking to Vikash, he says, “I constantly worked on my recipe to improve it. Up until the finalisation of my entry, I was still perfecting it. I was very passionate about getting the best mixture, ratios and flavour.”
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He adds that, “Being a butcher, I always wanted to be able to say I am the best at something and stand out from the rest. I’ve gotten through a few regional rounds and placed second or third in provincial rounds in the past. I always compared the winning recipe to mine to see how far off my recipe was.” He was announced as the winner of the competition after the finale on Thursday. “I was overwhelmed and speechless. It is such a proud moment for me to be crowned the champion and to know that my winning recipe will be available to the entire nation at all Shoprite and Checkers stores in the country from next Friday, in time for Heritage Day / Braai Day on September 24.”
Vikash is well-known by his friends and family for making brilliant boerewors. Many of them assured him that they were not surprised by his win and knew it was just a matter of time before he clinched the title. Second and third place went to Yolande Coleske from Kariega, Eastern Cape, and Chris Roodt from Cradock, Eastern Cape, respectively.
Apart from the coveted title of 2021 Championship Boerewors winner, Bachu also drives away in the grand prize – a brand-new Toyota Fortuner 2.4 GD-6 4X2 6AT. The popular Championship Boerewors Competition, presented annually by Shoprite and Checkers, kicked off in May this year with thousands of entrants submitting their traditional boerewors recipes. For the full story see the latest edition of the Ladysmith Gazette.
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