Each weekend a finalist was drawn from the recipes entered, with Loren Stevens and her “Pasta a ’la Loren”, a creamy prawn and chicken pasta dish, winning the “European” week, where hip hop dancers performed and Durban Hospitality Institute prepared a delicious Greek lamb Risotto. The second weekend of the competition focused on all things Eastern, with traditional Eastern dancers, an appearance by Little Miss India, as well as a delicious curry cook off was demonstrated by DHI chefs. Fadeela Khan and her “Kebaab Pilaau” took the second finalist position for the Eastern week. The third weekend, Heritage Weekend 24 – 25th of September, saw the SAMA-award winning Zulu dancers perform, with all sorts of traditional Zulu dishes prepared and sampled to the audience in celebration of our African culture. Princess Mathendwa’s “Traditional Ox tripe Potjie served with homemade bread” walked away with the third finalist position for that week.
The fourth and final finalist was selected in the last week of the competition, and Vis Reddy with her “Authentic Fish Curry” was invited to join the other three finalists in the finalé cook off held on the 1 of October. Each of the four finalists were awarded a R1000.00 grocery vouchers from City View Shopping Centre as well as stood a chance to win other fantastic prizes such as two professional cooking courses, Russell Hobbs microwave, George Foreman Mega Grill, full professional chef knife set, professional aprons and chef hats, stunning crockery sets, Braun appliances, and various other kitchen items to spoil any food enthusiast. The exciting final cook off saw the four finalists preparing their delicious dishes in Centre Court at their own cooking station specially created for them according to their individual cooking requirements.
The massive audience participated in cheering on their favourite finalist and of course sampling the delicious cuisine prepared. The judges ultimately awarded Loren Stevens as the owner of “Durban’s Best Dish” title and a close second went to Vis Reddy’s “Authentic Fish Curry”. Fadeela Khan’s “Kebaab Pilaau” took third place and Princess Mathendwa’s “Ox tripe Potjie” came fourth. Each finalist walked away with stunning prizes and the audience absolutely loved the various competitions, guessing ingredients, tasting dishes blindfolded, and allowed City View shoppers to walk away winners too! Overall the competition drew a massive amount of entries and ultimately celebrated our South African Heritage through food, entertainment, cooking demonstrations and traditional performers. City View Shopping Centre would like to congratulate all finalists for preparing delicious and beautiful presented traditional dishes, as well as extend a thank you to every shopper who entered their traditional recipe, the competition was certainly not an easy one to judge, and every delicious recipe truly made the Centre’s Heritage Month celebrations spectacular. City View looks forward to hosting future competitions, promotions and marketing initiatives to reward and spoil our shoppers.
