Is there an art to cooking? Let’s face it, some of us put food to the plate and eat without worrying about its presentation.
However, described as one who is responsible for skilfully preparing meals that are as pleasing to the palate as to the eye, one is inclined to think that culinary artists do think there is an art to cooking.
To attest to this notion is Ferndale-based HTA School of Culinary Art which recently held its fourth annual HTA School of Culinary Art Legacy Young Chef Competition. There, Devon Holman took top prize as he had judges eating out of his lap due to his culinary talents.
The competition is said to have been created to inspire the minds of young South-African chefs and allows the students to showcase their skills and impart the latest culinary trends. It is also to further test themselves against the challenges of their chosen career. There were 10 full-time second-year students selected through trials to take part in this prestigious competition – Dylan Price and Dante Mitri who got second and third place respectively, Callum Hewitt, Crystal Zondi, Dimpho Machaba, Martha Mokgadinyan, Monica Alexander, Muhammed Uzair Khan, and Tiandra Nain. These finalists will soon complete their final two-year full-time programme at the school.
Following a cook-off held in August at HTA, the finalists were selected and were judged by executive chefs from leading establishments, hospitality industry experts and last year’s winner, Anelisiwe Ntamo.
The objective of the competition, other than that of the educational and fun component offered through competitions, is to expose their students, the next generation of industry leaders, to a wide range of quality products and ingredients which they incorporate into five-star cuisine. The competition was followed by a cocktail event, attended by about 80 influential industry members, family members as well as the sponsors.
Each finalist was awarded a legacy competition hamper filled with various amazing prizes from the contributing sponsors. They were also given an HTA School of Culinary Art Legacy embroidered chef uniform from HTA.
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