2003 International Competition

The 27th International Finals of this prestigious competition took place on Thursday, 4th September 2003 in Cape Town under the auspices of Letitia Prinsloo and her dedicated team at the Institute of Culinary Arts on the Spier Wine Estate.

With these auspicious eyes and palates to please, the young chefs’ challenge was to devise and create a menu, for four people, within three and half hours, from a number of key ingredients in a mystery basket, put together by the chairman of the jury Stefano Strafella from the Prue Leith College of Food & Wine in Gauteng. The basket’s contents, generously provided by competition sponsors, Pick ‘n Pay included salmon trout, Kabeljou, oysters, pheasant, ostrich fillet, lamb’s liver, ricotta cheese, oyster mushrooms, avocado, a variety of fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables, herbs, spices and miscellaneous staples from the pantry.

The winners were announced to the international community at a dinner held at the Vineyard Hotel in Newlands. 26 year-old Carsten Neutmann from Hotel Schlossgarten in Stuttgart scooped the winning honours, with second and third places going to Daniel Hayes of Great Britain and Lesley Jacobs from The Michelangelo Hotel in Sandton, South Africa respectively. The winning menu, which was unanimously chosen for its overall creativity, execution, and presentation, consisted of: Mosaic of Kabeljou and tomato with poached Knysna oyster on avocado, crispy fried Guinea-fowl breast with ragout of lamb’s liver, sweet potatoes and Oyster mushrooms, with herb sauce and last but by no means least, exotic sorbet with Passion fruit and braised mango.

Carsten started his career as an apprentice cook in 1994, and was then drafted into the army for a year and a half. From 1998 until 2002 he worked in several well known restaurants in Hamburg as a saucier and pâtissier , Frankfurt as a demi-chef Garde Manger (the chef or sous-chef in charge of cold items, hors d’oevres, some desserts and decorative work) and Munich as a chef garde manger and chef pâtissier. Since September 2002 he has been sous-chef at Stuttgart’s renowned Hotel Schlossgarten. Carsten’s achievement here in the Jeunes Commis Competition has earned him a gold medal, as well as a Superior Cuisine Course scholarship, donated by the legendary Cordon Bleu school.

Thanks to the competition’s wonderful sponsors, each young chef took home a Bragard chef’s jacket and a Kenwood appliance, in addition to their certificate and year’s free membership of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs. They stayed close to the Institute of Culinary Arts at The Village at Spier – a first time for many to be staying so close to famous vineyards. They had a full programme from their time of arrival. The welcome dinner was on the Vergelegen Wine Estate in Somerset West. The next day they headed off to Pick ‘n Pay Supermarket to view the seasonal fruits, vegetables, dairy products, fish, meat and other locally available ingredients. This was followed by a visit to the Radoux Cooperage to see the production of wine barrels. The luncheon stop was Lanzerac Manor where the chefs had the opportunity of tasting some traditional South African cuisine prepared in non-traditional ways.

Saturday was the a real day at leisure with a trip up Table Mountain and a shopping visit to the V & A Waterfront. They returned later in the day for the Induction Ceremony and gala dinner which was held at The Table Bay Hotel. Our International President, Yam Atallah was in attendance.

Everyone flew home on Sunday with very fond memories of their first visit to South Africa, new ideas and new contacts/friends in the culinary world.

This great event was captured on video and copies are available in PAL, Secram and NTSC. The 20 minute video was entered by the production house and it was the winner in the Corporate Communications category in the 2003 National Television & Video Awards. The video shows all the behind the scenes activity and the actual competition.

The 28th competition will be held in Banff, Alberta, Canada from 16 – 19th September 2004. Entries close on 30th June.

Concours des Jeunes Commis Rôtisseurs Afrique du Sud 2004

Commis under the age of 26 years and employed by Chaine members are invited to enter the Regional competitions which will be held in Pretoria/Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town on 26th May, 2004. Applications must be made directly to your local Bailli. The National finals will be held on June 22nd in Johannesburg, with the winner announced at the Induction ceremony and gala to be held on June 23rd.

Sponsors of the 2003 Jeunes Commis Rôtisseurs (Young Cooks) Competition:
			Donford  Stellenbosch