Cape Malay pizza wins Global Pizza Challenge South Africa

Peter Goffe-Wood, of Wild Woods Bistro and Bar Hout Bay, with his winning Cape Malay-inspired Ostrich Bobotie pizza.

Celebrating its third year in South Africa (and 13 years internationally), the GPC continues to gain momentum and support with over 85 national entries from pizza makers and chefs across the country. The selected 34 finalists were invited to re-create their recipes at Hostex 2011.

Under the auspices of the South African Chefs Association, all entries received were assessed by a panel of accomplished chefs for originality, balance, creativity, commercial viability and excitement factor.

Finalists, winner

The four other finalists were:

• Barbara Khumalo - Blikkie Pizzeria, Paternoster: Smoked snoek with marinated bokkoms, sweet potato and Peppadew®
  
• Tony Rose - Tony's Spaghetti Grill, Randpark Ridge: Roasted butternut with gorgonzola and crisp sage
  
• Tammy Henton - Piccolo Mondo Restaurant, Sandton: Braised lamb, crispy onions and humus pizza with Dukkah-infused crust
  
• Jodi-Ann Pearton - The Food Design Agency, Northriding: Tea smoked kingklip, on a stone ground corn and fennel base with cauliflower emulsion

Says Arnold Tanzer, GPC co-owner and competition judge, "Pete's pizza was a true reflection of local taste, flavour and culture. It was well balanced from its thin base and ratio of topping components to its final sprinkling of Buffalo Ridge Mozzarella and Bandini Mozzarella. We believe that this pizza creation will do us proud at the international competition finale - while not only showcasing the talents of our chefs, but also our unique cuisine and excellent home-grown produce."

Goffe-Wood won a G3 Ferrari Pizza oven, as well as a trip to Sydney in September this year, to represent South Africa in the Global Pizza Challenge Finals.

Slice of charity

A corporate social responsibility element was added to the GPC judging process, with contestants' pizza being offered to gathered audience members. Charity of choice, Bidvest World Chefs' Tour Against Hunger, provided a donation box for all slices of pizza consumed, over the pizza competition period. These funds, totalling just short of R2 500, will be utilised to assist the campaign in raising R4-million to help alleviate starvation in southern Africa.

For more information, go to www.globalpizzachallenge.com.