Local cooks are fired up!
After winning the provincial round the Mbango team will compete in the national finals.
MBANGO supercooks have won the KwaZulu-Natal round of the prestigious Feedem Pitseng Culinary Competition and are gearing up to win the national finals in Cape Town on August 19.
The annual competition is open to Feedem Pitseng teams from all over South Africa so the competition is stiff. The contract catering company has more than 200 sites in South Africa. Last year, team Mbango also won the provincial finals and came second overall in the nationals. This year the team, comprising Sanjeev Sewnarayan, Tracey-Lee Williams, Barbara Lambert and Elsie Booysen are determined to top this achievement by winning first prize.
The four fab cooks really ran with the given theme for the provincial round. To them, ‘Whimsical Winter Market’ translated into a ‘traditional gone trendy’ look and simple, hearty country fare with a twist. Part of the competition was to do with eye-appeal and they really went to town with their imaginative country look when they decorated their table. Tracy also produced a project plan that was more a work of art than a document.
As for the food, they combined all sorts of fresh country produce to create imaginative culinary masterpieces. First on the menu was the starter, a creamy brussel sprout, horseradish and bacon pate. This was followed by Shitake and sun-dried tomato pesto rolls with a chilli, pawpaw and ginger jam, a pumpkin and corn soup, herbed cheese and spiced butter. The main course, a perfect example of the art of slow cooking, was an impressive apple and maple syrup braised pork belly. It took them almost all day to cook it and they served it with root veggies and a pawpaw salsa.
The sweet treat at the end of the meal was an amazing concoction they described as a deconstructed, layered pumpkin and cream parfait.They will be serving up something similar in Cape Town as they feel it could just be a winning formula. Here’s holding thumbs.
