Sixteen teams, each comprising two members, will battle it out for top culinary honours. Their task: planning and cooking a three-course meal in the space of four hours, using a basket of mystery ingredients supplied by John West, Today, Wellingtons and Heinz.
This challenge will require cool heads, focus, quick thinking and more than a spoonful of creativity. The winning team will receive a floating trophy, a gold medal and an aluminium knife set, while Silver and Bronze medals will be awarded to the runners-up. Prizes will also be awarded in categories such as best team spirit, best kitchen hygiene, best starter, best main course and best dessert.
The schools taking part are Hoërskool Florida, Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool, Die Hoërskool Menlopark, Hoërskool Waterkloof, CBC Mount Edmund, Hoërskool Oos-Moot, Pro Arte Alphen Park, Hoërskool Garsfontein, Hoërskool Hendrik Verwoerd, Dr Johan Jurgens High School, Hoërskool Zwartkop, Sutherland High School, Hoërskool Eldoraigne and Nigel High School.
With interest in the catering and hospitality industry burgeoning, the Heinz Junior Chef competition aims to nurture and promote excellence among budding young gastronomes, who can use the competition as an important stepping stone to a career in the culinary arts. It also gives Heinz an opportunity to showcase its bouquet of brands while giving something back to the community.
The judges for the competition are drawn from a broad spectrum of the academic, business and hospitality industries - but the one thing they have in common is their passion for good food, and their finely honed palates. They include Istelle Behrens of Dijon Catering; Maryna Verwey of the University of Pretoria's High Performance Centre; Theresa Pansegrauw of Best Rock Diamonds; Jean Oosthuizen of Steyn's Culinary School; Leslie Jacobs of the Food and Beverage Institute, Juanita Venter, a sales representative for Del Trade; Antoinette Kruger, a teacher and owner of a jewellery shop; Marissa Maccaferri of Heinz; Carina Kleynhans of the Tshwane University of Technology; and Letitia Prinsloo, principal of the Institute of Culinary Arts in Stellenbosch.
Also coming on board as a celebrity judge this year is chef Tinus Pretorius, whose flair with food has patrons flocking to Ramkietjie Country Restaurant in Honeydew. Renowned for his abiding passion for exquisite cuisine, Pretorius previously lent his culinary skills to Tivoli Ristorante and the Victory Theatre Restaurant, and is a regular participant in food shows and charity fundraisers.
During the Heinz Junior Chef competition, sandwiches will be made and distributed to shelters and outreach projects under the banner of the Tshwane Alliance for Street Children - giving something back to the community while honing their craft in the kitchen. This umbrella organisation works with various service providers that look after approximately 3 000 street children, abandoned babies, refugee children and youngsters heading up households.
“We feel it is important not just to encourage excellence among our country's budding young chefs, but also to foster a spirit of civic responsibility in them and remind them that for many people in our country food is a precious and scarce commodity, and is not only about fine dining,” says brand manager Marisa Maccaferri.
