FOOD TO IMPRESS: Chefs Keshan Rambarun and Siphokazi Ndlovu with their winning creation Picture: SUPPLIED

'We knew our dish would raise the bar and we have taken it to another level this year'

The annual prawn fest, which was first held last year, is a two-day event held at Durban's Sun Coast Casino and Entertainment world.

Aqua Restaurant, situ- ated at Sibaya Casino and Entertainment Kingdom, walked away with top honours.

Executive chef Keshan Rambarun, his second-in-command, Petrus Madutlela, and Sipho- kazi Ndlovu impressed a panel of six senior South African Chefs' Association judges with their dish, Prawnology.

The definition of the term, said the 28-year-old Rambarun, was the study of great prawn dishes prepared by master chefs.

The dish consisted of a prawn bisque, topped with carrot and ginger foam. This was accompanied by a rice puff biscuit, a roulade of smoked prawn, a chilli-prawn bite in a rice and crumb mixture and a sauce gabriche. It was then finished off with three types of caviar, red and yellow peppers and rice and coriander.

Each of the winning chefs received R500, a food steamer and a trophy for their efforts.

Rambarun, from Verulam, joined the Aqua team two and half years ago. He said his love for cooking began when he was younger and watch- ed his mom and six aunts in the kitchen. "It definitely came from my mom, though. She is a great cook."

Madutlela, who began his career in food as a cleaner with no formal training, said they entered the competition to inspire young people and their staff.

"This was all about staff morale. We wanted to pick them up and show them they can do anything. We wanted to give something back to the staff," he said.

The team took three weeks to come up with the dish and three days to create it.

Rambarun said they weren't nervous because they "knew from the outset that they would win".

"Not to sound vain or pompous, but we were quite confident. We knew our dish would raise the bar and we have taken it to another level this year."