A great tasting dish, team spirit, presentation and innovation were some of the criteria used to crown the winner in the “Ultimate Cook-off” which was a Mandela Day initiative the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Samsung/Hirsch’s and CCI-GrowthCon jointly participated in at the Ethelbert Child and Youth Care Centre on Friday 21 July 2017.

The Ethelbert centre has been home to vulnerable children since 1906 that have been removed from their parents because of sexual and/or physical abuse, severe neglect, abandonment, and those orphaned because of HIV/Aids. Currently housing 65 children the centre aims to break the cycle of abuse and to build up the self-esteem and confidence of the children in their care.  This is achieved by providing the children with a stable, loving environment, offering them counselling and therapeutic support to help them work through and learn how to deal with their experiences.  Ethelbert’s child-orientated programmes, dedicated social worker, psychologist, and childcare workers help children in their care to develop positive life-skills in a secure and loving environment.

The Social Workers work simultaneously with the children’s families, providing therapy and counselling to them to ensure that they too also receive support to overcome the reasons why their child was removed from their care.

Ethelbert Child and Youth Care Centre were treated to a day filled with delicious treats and great ambiance. Five individuals made up each team that cooked for a group of 15 children.  Each team was required to cook a main meal and a dessert. The team chose the menu. The judges were two Ethelbert “old boys”, Kathryn Buchanan (the Chairlady), and Chef Rev (co-owner of Pop-Up Society Restaurant in Glenwood and the chef-artist behind SA’s most instagrammed milkshakes). The categories and winners were:

Greenest Meal: Team 4 (Durban Chamber)

Most Instagrammable Meal: Team 2 (Durban Chamber)

Most Organized Team: Team 1 (Durban Chamber)

Ethelbert Main Meal Champion: Team 6 (Samsung)

Ethelbert Dessert Champion: Team 5 (CCI-GrowthCon)

Most Innovative Meal: Team 3 (CCI-GrowthCon)

Best Team Spirit: Teams 7 (SA Navy)

Best Team Spirit: Team 8 (Durban Chamber)

“The true character of society is revealed in how it treats its children” â€" Nelson Mandela