The Sunday Times Food Awards
PRESS RELEASE
30 MARCH 2007

The Sunday Times Food Show in association with Pick 'n Pay to be held from 5 to 8 July 2007 at the Sandton Convention Centre promises to be the ultimate South African Food experience. A winning combination of all things culinary, food lovers and serious gourmets will have a chance to watch our celebrity Chefs Reza Mahammad and Ainsley Harriott in action as well as source inspirational food ideas, sample an abundance of wine and food and participate in the live action in the food theatre and workshops.

The culinary cherry on the top of this amazing four-day event is the advent of the Sunday Times Food Awards 2007. The Sunday Times Food Awards (Chef of the Year and Young Chef of the Year qualified and unqualified) have been designed to stir the creative pot that leads to innovation and the highest possible standard for chefs. While the Sunday Times Chef of the Year Award recognises the achievements of those chefs who are already making a mark on the South African culinary landscape, the Young Chef of the Year Awards (qualified and unqualified) was recognises the potential of young chefs with the drive and passion to become masters of their craft. The Sunday Times believes that to add anything to the great food debate in South Africa, these awards need to be credible and fair. Sunday Times Marketing GM Susan Russell said, "Credibility is particularly important for a newspaper that prides itself on providing readers with knowledge they can trust. This is why the criteria for these awards, the judging, and the judges themselves, have been chosen with the utmost care, with the assistance of a Food Council, convened at Sunday Time's invitation by food writer, critic and journalist Gwynne Conlyn." The members of the food council were drawn from across the South African food industry and include leading chefs and food writers..

The Sunday Times Chef of the Year Award is set to become the highest accolade handed out to a practicing senior chef who embodies the qualities that make for cooking greatness. Seven judges chosen by The Sunday Times will evaluate entries on the basis of the menu composition, skills, preparation, food presentation, originality and the utilization of seasonal local ingredients. Marks will be allocated to the chef as a professional, an educator, an industry innovator, culinary skill, artistry and their public profile.

The growth of any sector is dependent on young talent. In South Africa we are blessed with a great deal of up and coming young chefs. The Sunday Times Young Chef of the Year (Qualified) is designed to recognize exceptional young members of professional kitchen brigades. They probably do not qualify for the title of "chef" as yet but they exude the passion, enthusiasm and training that is necessary to lead a great restaurant kitchen. Our Young Chef of the Year has gone to a cooking school or culinary training institution and is working under the supervision of a senior chef. The Sunday Times Award is designed to inspire young chefs to seek culinary greatness and to become one the great chefs of the future. Entrants have to be between 18 and 29 years old.

We also recognize that many young people in our country do not necessarily have the means to enter a tertiary institute of learning and yet buoyed by enthusiasm, a natural aptitude for food, they display amazing potential to become great chefs. With this in mind, The Sunday Times Young Chef of the Year Award (Unqualified) is an award that is focused on development. One very lucky young potential chef will receive a scholarship to study at the prestigious Prue Leith College of Food and Wine. The generous bursary covers tuition, equipment and accommodation costs for the duration of the 18-month course. Entries are open to young people between the ages of 18 and 29, who have a minimum of one year's work experience in a professional kitchen.

A total of 10 competitors will be selected for each competition on the basis of their submissions. All will be invited to present a three-course menu at a cook-off prior to the Sunday Times Food Show where our winners will be announced at a special Awards Event.

To enter The Sunday Times Chef of the Year, the Young Chef of Year Qualified and Unqualified, download your entry form from www.sundaytimes.co.za/foodshow and submit it to PO Box 1742, Saxonwold 2132 or hand deliver to the Sunday Times at Johncom House, 4 Biermann Avenue, Rosebank 2196. Entries close on April 30 2007 and only hard copies submitted via courier, mail or hand deliveries will be accepted.