The three categories of the competition - Senior, Junior and Team of Four - allow for entries by all levels of chefs before 24 July 2011.
Successful entrants will be put to the test at three regional semi-finals in either Cape Town (1 August), Johannesburg (3 August) or Durban (5 August). Finalists selected from the three regional semi-finals will then go through to compete in the Mystery Basket National Final at Unilever Food Solutions head office in Durban on 16 September.
The Senior category calls for chefs with more than five years of professional culinary experience and the Junior category for chefs with less than five years' experience.
Applicants in both these categories are required to submit recipes for a three-course meal using the company's products in order to qualify for selection for the semi-finals where they will be required to prepare a three-course menu for three people using a mystery basket of ingredients, as well as ingredients from a communal table.
The Team category is open to teams consisting of four members; a team manager (or executive chef), senior cook, junior cook/assistant and a waitron from any hotel, canteen or restaurant across South Africa. Regional cook-offs are not held for the Team of Four category, but six teams will be chosen to compete in the mystery basket national finals in September from all national entries received. The six finalist teams will be required to present a starter, main course and dessert for six people, as well as a unique table setting designed to dazzle the judges.
Competitors in all three categories, at both semi-final and final level, will be scored on taste, number of company products used and the novel use of these products, originality of the recipe, degree of difficulty and skill required, fusion of flavours, portion size and, in the case of the Team category, table presentation.
The winner in the Senior category wins R15 000 and the title of Unilever Food Solutions Chef of the Year, while second and third place will win R10 000 and R5 000 respectively. The first prize in the Junior Chef of the Year is R10 000, second prize is R6 000 and third prize is R4 000. The winners in the Team category will win a cash prize of R20 000, second prize R12 000 and third prize R8 000.
For more information, go to www.unileverfoodsolutionscoty.co.za.
