DINNA IS A WINNER AT HOME AND AWAY

With a name like Shaneil Dinna, it seems likely that this young chef is destined for great things. Susan Reynard reports on South Africa's finalist in the global competition to find the world's best young chef.

Food trends see flavours and presentation of food evolve, but for the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs there is one constant - recognition of classical training to produce fine-dining cuisine. To win the Jeunes Commis Rôtisseurs, or Young Chef of the Year award, is to demonstrate a mastery of the traditions of classic cuisine, coupled with an understanding of contemporary food trends.

Shaneil Dinna, a 23-year-old senior chef de partie at the InterContinental Sandton Sun & Towers created the following winning dishes for the national competition from a mystery basket that contained kabeljou, lobster, lamb loin, spinach, tomatoes, yellow peppers, granadilla and oranges:

Starter - Lamb loin with kidney salad and tomato fillets
Main - Kabeljou on marinated lobster with warm beetroot and saffron sour cream
Dessert - Trio of delights

The competition was judged by: Stefano Strafella, Stephen Billingham, Daniel Chapat, Gwynne Conlyn, Craig Elliott, Kevin Garratt, Sundru Pillay, Letitia Prinsloo, Walter Ulz, Karen Veysey, Ewan Watt, Carol Wicht and Francois van Zyl. Sponsors included Pick 'n Pay, KWV International, the Westcliff hotel, Unilever Food Solutions and Avis.

Judges looked for originality, presentation, texture, flavour, techniques, skills, hygiene and correct use of ingredients and at the same time monitored wastage and timing. A new dimension to this year's competition was pairing food with KWV wines for each course.

Dinna studied at the Prue Leith College of Food and Wine and before joining the big city hotel industry worked at Word of Mouth Catering and Kapama Lodge. His first taste of international competition came as assistant to Stefano Strafella for the Bocuse d'Or competition in Lyon, France in 2003.

Dinna first entered competitions to overcome his fear of the competition environment. Last year he made it into the regional finals of the Jeune des Rôtisseurs and was content just to compete. This year he added increased confidence to the teachings of his boss, Klaus Beckmann, complex executive chef at the InterContinental Sandton Sun & Towers, and won.

Beckmann says he urged Dinna to "do what we always do; be authentic; be true - finished."

Dinna said: "Klaus changes the perspective of how we use ingredients and what you can use. We have learned a lot of new ideas. He doesn't give it to you straight out, he let's you find it. He shows you a way, but you do what you want to do.

"What we do here in the competition we do in our kitchen. We don't fake a projection of an image that we are not. We are not trained in tricks."

He says a key question when approaching any dish is: "Does what you're doing make sense?" Food is still food, he adds. However, it incorporates culture, chemistry, physical architecture and nutrition. "To be true, you must understand what you really want to tell those who eat your food. Your message should be clear: do you want to satisfy, impress, nourish?"

Beckmann says judges respond to this. "I don't want to create clones of me, but independent chefs who know what they are doing and pass on the message. In a hostile environment like a competition, chefs must be themselves. Being himself is what made Shaneil win."

Francois van Zyl from the Prue Leith College of Food & Wine accompanied Dinna on the international leg of the competition in Australia in September. His task was to oversee training leading up to the grand finale, which included researching Australian products and ingredients; fine-tuning timing and preparation on the day; working on basic skills; and understanding the rules of the competition.

Van Zyl says chefs are trained to win, but he emphasises that competition is intended to be part of a total experience for the young chefs.

Dinna was joined in Australia by Nkosikhona Manqele, a third-year trainee at the Royal Hotel in Durban, who was a runner-up in the KwaZulu-Natal leg of the competition. Manqele observed the international competition and spent a week with former Durbanite Alec Gilbert, who is now the CEO of the Adelaide Convention Centre, to gain further work experience. With assistance from players in a golf day, he was sponsored by the KZN Bailliage of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, the SA Chefs Association of KZN and the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa.

Although Dinna did not win this time, he found the international competition in Australia an overwhelming and amazing experience. "I met some outstanding people and was impressed by the quality of products used in the competition."

The international competition and the coveted gold medal was won by Daniel Craig from Canada. Steffi Kerber from Germany was second. Tied in third place were Mikko Tapani Kautto from Finland and Håkan Olsson from Sweden.

Dinna's competitors in the South African leg of the competition were Steven Edwards from the Cape Grace Hotel in Cape Town, Johan Ferreira from Baron's Place in Outeniqua; Jodi-Ann Palmer from Professional Culinary Projects in Pretoria and Albert van der Loo from the Beverly Hills Hotel in Umhlanga. All received bronze medals for winning the finals. Dinna received a silver medal as the national winner.

Dinna also won R2 000 and a number of other prizes and may be invited to accompany the SA Junior Culinary team when it competes in Scotland in March.