With half an hour left on the clock, tavern chef-of-the-year finalist Moud Kgomo speared her left hand with a potato peeler and took a medical time out.
Pressure was mounting for the Vosloorus tavern owner, midway through preparing her signature dish of chicken feet, pork trotters, tripe and gizzard. But she finished the job and an hour later was crowned Mzansi Tavern Chef of the Year.
Kgomo’s prize will go towards upgrading her township kitchen, but she also won tavern bragging rights sure to swell the ranks of her many admirers. She intends repainting her tavern, buying more furniture and adding more ladies bathrooms.
“The pressure is too much — you know the clock is ticking,” Kgomo said of her finals showdown at Nederberg wine estate outside Paarl on Tuesday. “But I was OK — I just needed more pots. Somehow it worked out,” she told TimesLIVE Premium immediately after presenting her dish dubbed “Jack of all Trades” to three foodie judges.
Kgomo was one of five regional finalists at the high-stakes cook-off, the culmination of a six-month national competition involving township taverns big and small. The competition is a groundbreaking partnership involving Heineken Beverages SA, Nederburg Wines and the National Liquor Traders Association, aimed at mitigating social problems related to drinking. By promoting tavern food the initiative seeks to combat binge drinking while simultaneously creating jobs and boosting township business.
“Food serving in taverns has the dual benefit of helping moderate consumption and promote a responsible, more sociable atmosphere, while also creating an additional revenue stream for the outlet which can drive township economic development and employment,” the organisers said.
Tuesday’s finals followed two busy days for the finalists who were treated to a top hotel and dinners at highly-recommended non-township restaurants. The cook-off was also a chance for the three judges to share their experience of touring the country’s taverns — they visited several in each province during the regional cook-off stage.
“I think I have exponentially increased the amount of tripe I’ve eaten,” commented master-chef Peter Goffe-Wood. “All so beautifully cooked,” he said, adding that so-called “tavern food” is becoming more mainstream. “Tripe and trotters are appearing a lot more on upmarket menus. It’s often more delicious than cooking a steak for 15 minutes,” said Goffe-Wood.
Fellow judge Benny Masekwameng said tavern catering could provide much-needed additional income for a sector particularly hard-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. “There was very little coming in for taverners during lockdown, and going forward [serving food] will be another income stream for them and improve a whole lot of lives down the line,” said Masekwameng, who tasted 85 dishes during the the competition. “That explains my one-pack,” he quipped.
The judges also remarked on the high skill-level displayed by tavern chefs who often had to work with offcuts requiring lengthy cooking. “There’s huge skill in getting that right,” Goffe-Wood said.
Speaking after the awards ceremony an emotional Kgomo said she may have to reconsider what to do with her prize money: “With R100,000 I think I’m going to buy a Porsche,” she quipped.
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