The four chefs selected from hopefuls from all over the country, who will take to the culinary stage, are:
All in the early stages of their careers, the four finalists will be competing for the grand prize of R5,000 plus a floating trophy at the Sandton Convention Centre. The cook-off starts at 10:00, and the finalists, selected for their unique recipes, will have two hours to prepare two unique vegetarian dishes - one soup and one main course recipe for six people - using a minimum of four McCain products, while incorporating the theme “Green for Gold” in their recipe entries, in tribute to the South African National Culinary Team, who brought home a Gold medal from last years IKA Culinary Olympics in Erfurt, Germany in October.
The versatility of the McCain products, which include a wide range of frozen vegetables, including creamed spinach, roasting vegetables, sweet potatoes and pumpkin, make them a convenient solution for cocktail menus and this year's finalists have shown some great creativity in their dishes. With the likes of broccoli soup, crushed minted cumin peas with braised vegetable ravioli and truffled frothed mushroom veloute, chilled spinach soup with feta cream and pistachio and Moroccan stuffed green peppers, featuring on their menus. The South African Chefs Association accredited judges will be spoilt for choice when it comes down to selecting the winner.
Join McCain at Hostex for this nail-biting final cook-off, where you can see the four finalists in action and find out some hints and tips on how to create impressive vegetarian snacks from the experts. You'll find the McCain Tribute to Good Taste on the South African Chefs Association stand, taking place from 10:00 to 12:00 on Wednesday, 18 March.
