40 bloggers, 11 challenges, three finalists and now one winner.
Pick n Pay’s Freshly Blogged, South Africa’s first online cooking competition, ended in a heated final between Anél Potgieter, Lara Johnson and Sam Taylor, as they battled it out in one last live cook off at Taste of Joburg.
The final task was for the bloggers to cook a selection of dishes from a box of mystery ingredients in an exciting 30 minute challenge, in front of Freshly Blogged judges.
It was Sam Taylor, blogger of Pomegranate Days who cooked her way to the Top Blogger title on the evening with her tantalising seared steak bruschetta with caramalised onions, cherry tomatoes, pea sprouts and red wine reduction, followed by a pear and chocolate spring roll, dusted with cinnamon sugar.
Sam Taylor is thrilled and thankful for the opportunity and excited for what is still to come.
Lara Johnson, runner up and blogger of How to Cook an Elephant loved every minute of Freshly Blogged, and enjoyed being part of this South African first.
Anél Potgieter, also a runner up in the competition and Lifeisazoobiscuit blogger, admitted that this has been the most difficult thing she has ever done in her life.
Sam walks away with a selection of great prizes including a return trip for two to Munich worth R40,000 courtesy of SAA Holidays, a three part recipe series in Fresh Living magazine as well as an Apple iPad and a package for two at Mangwanani African Spa.
Freshly Blogged runners up Anél and Lara each receive an Apple iPad and a Pick n Pay gift card to the value of R5000.