Plate to Win challenge ends with a sizzle
SANDTON - The inaugural Plate to Win cooking competition ended on a sizzling note when Darcy Els was crowned the winner.
The exciting competition, run by Unilever Food Solutions, saw 20 hand-picked chefs take part in a cook-off using food in a mystery basket.
The 20 were whittled down through a process of elimination to only five who then took part in the final leg of the competition.
Craig Elliot, executive head chef of Unilever Food Solutions explained that the concept was a new one developed by Unilever as a way to think differently when it came to cooking competitions.
“We were looking at how we can be innovative and how we can do things differently when it comes to the art of cooking,” he said.
Elliot added that the competition was also a way for the company to give up-and-coming chefs exposure to the industry and help them forge contacts.
Chef Heinz Brunner, one of the judges for the competition, echoed this by saying that competitions allow for talent to be scouted by bigger companies.
“Because competitions such as the cook-off allow emerging chefs to compete with their peers, we’re able to earmark those with potential for future prospects,” he said.
“Also, such initiatives are great for the growth and development of young chefs and they provide a challenging and different environment for them.”
The Plate to Win mystery basket cook-off took place during the Hostex exhibition, which ran from 15 to 18 March at the Sandton Convention Centre, where Unilever was one of the exhibitors.
The exhibition, organised by Specialised Exhibitions, hosted traders, companies and businesses working in the hospitality industry and the event was an opportunity for networking between businesses and the end-users of their products.
