Sunday Times Chef of the Year competition opens

The theme of this year's competition is Modern South African Cuisine, where chefs have the option to choose ingredients from a specified list and submit a menu that will incorporate a new and exciting spin on traditional cuisine. Entrants in the Junior, Young and Chef of the Year categories are required to enter a three-course menu of a starter, a main and a dessert. The Stalwart entrants will provide a two-course menu of a starter and a main.

Categories

The Chef of the Year competition is open to all chefs resident in South Africa from the age of 30 years and up. This category will recognise and reward senior South African chefs who have shown dedication in their pursuit of culinary innovation, excellence and consistency. The first prize awarded in this category is R50 000.

The Young Chef of the Year category will identify and reward rising culinary stars that are ready to make a name in the industry. Entrants have to be resident South African chefs and be between the ages of 25-30 years. The winner will be presented with R20 000 cash prize.

The previous year's category Chef School Challenge has now been replaced by Junior Chef of the Year and South African qualified chefs under the age of 25 years can win a cash prize of R10 000.

The Stalwart of the Kitchen category is a true favourite within the competition and aims to recognise the large group of chefs and cooks over the age of 35, who have no formal qualifications, yet make up the backbone of this industry. The winner will be awarded a cash prize of R10 000 and once again, needs to be a South African resident.

Judges

The panel of judges will select four finalists in each category. Andrew Atkinson, executive chef at the Michelangelo Hotel and MasterChef SA judge, will be the competition's head judge. The kitchen judge is Arnold Tanzer, who acted as the culinary producer on the MasterChef SA competition. The tasting judges for 2012 are Ruben Riffel, owner of Reuben's Restaurant in Franschhoek; Jackie Cameron, executive chef at Hartford House; Andrew Unsworth, editor of the Sunday Times Travel Weekly; Hilary Biller editor of the Sunday Times Food Weekly and Michel le Borgne, executive chef at Foodcorp's The 7th Floor.

"The Sunday Times first launched this competition in 2007. The collaboration with Foodcorp took place in 2009, a partnership that works extremely well as both parties aim to create the opportunity to recognise the talented chefs and food innovators in South Africa," says Jacqui Gunn, manager of the competition since its inception.

The final award ceremony will take place from 2-4 October 2012 at Foodcorp Innovation Centre's The 7th Floor, Cape Town. For more, go to the Facebook page or email Jacqui Gunn on az.oc.semityadnus@raeyehtfofehc.