News

Llewellyn Buckley-Marais is the Bailli Délégué of Mzansi’s chapter of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs – an international association of gastronomy established in 80+ countries, that joins enthusiasts of fine dining and excels in the encouragement of culinary arts.

With nearly 25,000 members, the Chaîne’s distinctive purpose is to bring together amateurs and professionals from all over the world in the appreciation of exceptional cuisine, be they hoteliers, restaurateurs, executive chefs or sommeliers.

Mossel Bay-based Buckley-Marais is in charge of the five SA regions where Chaîne chapters ply their trade: Lowveld, Pretoria, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Outeniqua and Cape Town; he oversees and reports on all five regional boards.

“In this year’s Young Chefs competition, we welcomed 13 entrants: eight from the Cape, three from Gauteng and two from KZN. Taking into account logistics and practicalities, competition venues were merged to the Mother City and Joburg, with out-of-town entrants flown to their closest station,” he explains.

All Jeunes Chefs competitors could compete only with the support of existing Chaîne associates, which this year include Fusion Cooking School, Saxon Hotel, the Chef Training and Innovation Academy, Salt at Waterford, Table Bay Hotel, Peninsula All Suite Hotel, Southern Sun The Cullinan, Delaire Graff Estate, Grootbos Private Nature Reserve and Birkenhead House.

“Each of these establishments submitted competitors and sponsored their participation at the two competition venues, this year being the Cape Town Institute of Culinary Arts under the helm of Letitia Prinsloo, and Pretoria’s Capital Hotel School, ably steered by Ronel Bezuidenhout.”

A quick rundown of the competition format goes thus: competitors get together in the morning and are given a tour of the kitchen to peruse available equipment; they also get a glimpse of what’s termed the “common table ingredients” on hand.

“From there we introduce them to their secret box: the ingredients are revealed and they then proceed to write their menus. Each secret box contains five items, and they have to use at least 25% of ingredients in the dishes prepared.

“They then have half an hour to write a three-course dinner menu comprising a starter, main course and dessert. Their sheets are copied to add to the judges’ forms before they’re taken into the kitchen. The young chefs then have three and a half hours to cook, bake and whatever they need to do before plating their offerings.”

The competition is open to any South African member of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs and, taking the age limit of 27 years into account, entrants are often eligible employees or student chefs at members’ premises. Youngsters can be sponsored by Chaîne members if it is believed that they can be coached to perform at this level of culinary competence.

After last Thursday’s two regional competitions, the top two were announced in each case and these four winners are guaranteed entry in the national competition come April next year, with third-placed entrants invited along to gain from the experience.

Congratulations to Joburg winners were Amahle Sosiba in first place and Elizabeth Nothando Ncube in second, and Cape Town’s top placed Sheldon Wolfe with Caeleb Naidoo as runner up.

They will now compete for countrywide podium positions, after which first to third-placed chefs will be eligible to enter the international Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Jeunes Chefs 2025 competition, scheduled to take place in Bangkok, Thailand.

“Fundraising is par for the course, since we have to finance judges’ and entrants’ stay-overs, transport and sundries, and of course our entrants’ international participation in Thailand,” says Buckley-Marais.

He adds a special shout-out for his support to Chef Craig Cormack – his 2IC as Conseil Culinaire of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs – as well as deep gratitude to the Gauteng Bailliage for joining forces with their Cape colleagues in planning these events.

“Any competition of this scale relies heavily on sponsorship,” says Buckley-Marais. He thanks Bidfood South Africa, Global Knives and Kenwood for their support, and pays special tribute to main sponsor SAMAC (SA’s Macadamia NPC) for its cash injection and macadamia products availed for the occasion.