Six aspiring chefs from South Africa will get the chance to gain skills and explore the culinary world thanks to studying opportunities from cooking school Capsicum. Every year the school hosts the Capsicum Culinary Studio’s annual Chef Talent Scout Competition.
This year’s winner will receive a three-year bursary valued at R200,000 for the school’s Advanced Culinary Arts Programme. The Advanced Culinary Arts Programme is an NQF Level 5/QCTO qualification completed over three years.
The five other prizes are one-year bursaries for the Professional Chef Programme or the Professional Patisserie Programme will be awarded to regional finalists to study at one of Capsicum’s six campuses across the country, Boksburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria and Rosebank.
The 2019 winner of the three-year bursary, Cindy Naidoo started her studies at the beginning of March and is excited to get back to class.“I had three good weeks on campus then, just when I really started enjoying attending classes, the lockdown began. Even though we are in lockdown, Capsicum Culinary Studio has been absolutely amazing with their online lectures via Microsoft Teams,” she said.
“My lecturer is Chef Ewan Johnston and he has totally been super supportive by always being readily available to assist us with our questions as well as sending us videos so we can better understand what we are learning, as we cannot do practicals at this time. I cannot wait for the lockdown to be lifted so I can get back to class and get cooking,” said Naidoo.
To enter the competition, entrants must create a dish sweet or savoury dish using a red capsicum pepper or any other red ingredient; take a good, clear photo of the completed dish and upload it to their Instagram page, tagging @Capsicumcooking and using the hashtag #CapsicumTalent.
Naidoo’s advice to the entrants of the competition is to think carefully about the dish they want to present. “It should have colour, texture and be packed with flavour. It should also be something that would not require long hours to make,” she said.
Finalists will be invited to take part in a cook-off on the 20th of January 2021 at the Capsicum at their nearest campuses, where they will prepare the dish they entered on Instagram, using their own ingredients.
The winners from each campus will then compete in a cook-off at the Rosebank campus (with travel to Gauteng sponsored for those living in other parts of the country), for the final cook-off on February 6 2021, where they will have to create a dish using ingredients from a mystery basket.
The competition closes at midnight on November 30, and the names of 10 finalists from each region will be announced on December 9.
