On Thursday the 1st September, The Food Network in association with DSTV held the launch event of their ever popular show, Chopped SA at the Food Studio inside Pick 'n Pay on William Nicol. The launch commenced with a brilliant and comical introduction from Nick Thorogood, MD at The Food Network which was followed by a tasty spread of boosting breakfast. The show commenced and was staged in front of a live audience of select VIP guests and the first Chopped contestants consisting of our very own Chef Jodi-Ann Pearton, competitions director of the South African Chefs Association, Kevin Miller a Lindt chocolatier, Abubaker Bagaria the head chef at Bistro on Boulevard and Jelele Mokhine sous chef at the Park Inn Sandton.
Mystery baskets containing four essential, yet twisted ingredients were used for the rounds of starter, main and dessert with one contestant who gets "chopped" from each course. The audience could view all of the action from inside the kitchen and on TV screens conveniently arranged around the Food Studio as the contestants unpacked their first mystery basket. The contestants were given 15 minutes to create a starter using core ingredients of black pudding sausage, chick peas, water chestnuts and edible flowers. Miller was the first contestant to get chopped while the remaining contestants were left with 25 minutes to create a main course utilizing the staple ingredients of skate wing, pearl barley, mango atchaar and sushi noori. Mokhine was second to get chopped, with the only Jodi-Ann and Abubker left to battle it out in the last remaining round of dessert. The last of the mystery ingredients consisting of agar agar, kumquats, marshmallows and an ostrich egg as ingredients. It was head to head all the way to the end of the interactive launch, with Chef Jodi-Ann taking away the coveted title, first winner in South Africa of Chopped.
Nick Thorogood handed each contestant a life-sized cheque of R25 000 for the charity of their choice. Jodi-Ann has nominated Cresset House, a community with residential and work facilities for 60 adults with intellectual disabilities, who are food focused on growing their own produce and preparing even the very basics such as bread from scratch.