Winners of Sunday Times 2011 Food Awards announced

Back (L - R): Wynand van Rooyen, Chef of the Year 2011; Darren O’ Donnovan, Chef School Challenge Winner; and Delvin Reck, Stalwart of the Kitchen 2011 Front (L - R): Left to right: Megin Meikle, Chef School Challenge Winner; and Ashleigh Heeger, Young Chef of the Year 2011

Mondli Makhanya, editor-in-chief of Avusa Media, MC Nataniël and the country's most well-known foodies celebrated the heated three-day cook-off and.

Winners

Other winners were:

• Young Chef of the Year - Ashleigh Heeger from The Test Kitchen by Luke Dale Roberts
  
• Chef School Challenge - Megin Meikle and Darren O' Donovan from HTA Culinary School of Art in Randburg
  
• Stalwart of the Kitchen - Delvin Reck from Scotty's Restaurant and Bar in Plettenberg Bay for the second year running

"The awards aim to recognise individuals within all areas of the food industry; whether they are at the start of their culinary career or have worked behind the scenes for many years," says Jacqui Gunn, Avusa Media business manager. "It was great to see so many new names and faces, a whole new generation of chefs emerging into the limelight in the hospitality industry. The competition is achieving what we set out to do five years ago in giving these chefs their moment to shine."

All competing chefs followed the same protocol and cooked from a mystery basket of ingredients that was compulsory to use in their dishes. The mystery baskets remained confidential until the cook-off time, and all plates were presented to the judges anonymously. Contestants were given thirty minutes to plan a three-course menu and to set up the kitchen in preparation of their dishes.

"The competition gets better each year and we would like to encourage upcoming chefs from different backgrounds and all walks of life to enter next year's competition," says Justin Williamson, CEO of Foodcorp.