A total of 32 countries will have six hours to prepare their three-course menus to serve 110 people under the scrutiny of thousands of spectators and international judges from around the world.
South Africa will be proudly represented by the National Culinary Team. The chefs which make up this team are essentially the Springboks of the culinary world. Similar to the athletes who represent our country in the sporting arena spend months training and preparing for the Olympics, so the official Olympic Culinary squad spends many hours practicing to perfect their craft.
IOL was invited to an exclusive event taking place during one of the team’s monthly practices at which the chefs were sampling their Olympic standard cuisine. Heinz Brunner, the Manager and main speaker at the luncheon, is the South African National Culinary team and will be mentoring and training the team leading up to the next prestigious IKA Culinary Olympics
of the South African National Culinary team.
The National Olympic team consists of seven talented young chefs, namely Henrico Grobbelaar (Southern Sun Waterfront), Dion Vengatass (Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel), Blake Anderson (3SIXTY and Billy G, Montecasino), Jerome Norton (Four Seasons, The Westcliff Hotel), Kirstin Hellemann (Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel), Minette Smith (HTA School of Culinary Art) and Arno Ralph (Lindt & Sprungli SA).
The luncheon took place at the HTA School of Culinary Art in Ferndale on Tuesday.
The ambience was very relaxed as the guests were ushered into the dining hall and the following dishes were served:
Starters: Crayfish with carrot, terrine and curry sauce, mayonnaise and carrot jus
Main: Pan-roasted loin of springbok
Rolled real sweet breads, red cabbage and cider puree
Savoy cabbage and boulangère potatoes
Dessert: White chocolate and coconut mousse
Rose gel
Coconut sorbet and pulled sugars
The Culinary Olympics will take place from 22 to 25 October in Erfurt, Germany.
Fans can follow their culinary heroes on #SaOlympicChefs
IOL