Student chefs celebrate mushrooms in live cook-off
The overall winner was Johann Neethling from the Prue Leith Culinary Institute in Pretoria, with Mguni hot on his heels.
The HTA School of Culinary Art’s Leroy Mguni took home an admirable second-place finish in a competition for young South African chefs.
The South African Mushrooms Farmers’ Association (Samfa) with the South African Chefs’ Association (Saca) invited all young South African student chefs to provide recipes that would utilise the magic of home-grown mushrooms.
Mguni was one of five finalists that were selected by accredited Saca judges from a host of entries and the winner was decided at a live cook-off at the Capsicum Culinary Studio in Rosebank.
Ross Richardson, chairperson of Samfa, was thrilled with the quality of entries received and said that it was a tough job to decide on the five finalists.
“All the young chefs made magical dishes. Fresh, delicious and flavoursome mushrooms were the key to their success,” said Richardson.
The overall winner was Johann Neethling from the Prue Leith Culinary Institute in Pretoria, with Mguni hot on his heels.
Senior Saca competition judge Stuart McClarty commented, “Each finalist’s recipe had a certain magic to it and all the judges were massively impressed with the quality of the entries.
“The unique way in which each finalist added the magic of mushrooms to their favourite everyday recipe really illustrated the ability of everyday, versatile mushrooms to magically take an ordinary dish to a gourmet Michelin-star creation. It also showcased the wonderful talent of each finalist.”
The top three young chefs also walked away with magnificent cash prizes to the total value of R20 000.
