It gives us great pleasure to share the news that our Food24 NextGen winner for 2017 has been announced. This year’s competition is in association with Philips.
Meanda Mills, a student at The Institute of Culinary Arts, walks away with the grand prize of R45 000 worth of Philips appliances as well as R15 000 in cash. Huge congratulations to this talented young chef!
Meanda entered two recipes into the competition – hot cross bun cruffins with white chocolate sauce and tiramisu eggnog for the Easter category and rosemary-smoked curried lamb rack for the Braai category.
It was the hot cross bun cruffins though that won the judges over. Her knowledge and understanding of current world food trends, overall execution and beautiful styling meant she scored pretty high on the list of criteria. To see who the judges were, click here.
Meanda says, “Three years ago I made the best decision of my life which was to move to Stellenbosch from Hartebeespoort (where I grew up) and enrol in the Institute of Culinary Arts (ICA). I grew up in a house where food was a very big part of our upbringing. I was always told to try everything. “If you don’t like it, that’s fine. At least you can have a conversation about it.” That knowledge can never be taken away from you. As a result, I have always tried different things in the kitchen, even in simple tasks like preparing supper. I always try to improve on the previous dish I made”.
What’s next for Meanda?
“After my graduation, I would love to stay on in Cape Town and work at some of the top restaurants while learning from the culinary legends we have in South Africa. Then I would love to travel through Asia and Europe and learn from the street vendors and the families who have been making certain dishes and ingredients for 80 plus years and learn the family recipes that have been passed down throughout the generations. From there I would like to start the journey of building my own restaurant.”
Food24 wishes Meanda all the very best in her future endeavours!
Are you a student chef with a burning desire to share your recipes with the world? Don’t miss the opportunity to enter next year’s Food24 NextGen competition. Keep an eye out for details by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and signing up for our newsletters!