Shisa Nyama festival cooks…
THE competition was hot yesterday as various restaurants competed at the first Shisa Nyama festival in Durban.
The festival which brought some of the best shisa nyamas in the province to where they had it out at People’s Park, Moses Mabhida stadium, where they were serving people who had come to the event with friends and family.
One such family was the Moodleys, from Chatsworth.
Thashnee Moodley, her husband Brenden, 30, and two children said they went to the festival because they wanted a change of scenery.
“We normally go to The Pavilion, but we decided to come to the festival for a change.
“It’s very tasty,” Thashnee said. “It’s a nice experience too, a chilled afternoon and the music is good,” Thashnee said.
As the competition was heating upin the day, she said people would expect that Max’s Lifestyle restaurant would be runaway winners, but Eyadini Lounge were putting the pres- sure on Max. The two restaurants were among seven finalists during the festival.
The finalists were chosen after judges went around the province going to the various restaurants. One of the people who was involved was chef Sherwyn Weaich.
Weaich, the master baker for Albany, one of the main sponsors of the competition, said they started preparing for the festival last year, and went to about 30 restaurants across KwaZulu-Natal, with the com- petition cut down to seven.
Weaich, of Newlands East, said he was acting as a mentor and advising the competitors on what to improve on during the cookout.
Judges would be looking at aspects such as the pairing of the meat with food and drinks, the promptness of the service and, most importantly, that “It’s about creating an experience. What extra flavour do they bring?”
The festival also had another aspect, which was to ex- pose people to restaurants they would not normally go to.
“It is about taking the kasie to the people. And not having people travel all the way to the kasie to experience it… At the end of the day it is about having fun,” Weaich said.
It was two Durban heavyweights who came out tops at the festival. It was Cafe Skyzer and Eyadini Lounge, who were the cream of the crop.
Skyzer was the judges’ best and Eyadini Lounge was voted most popular by the people. Max’s Lifestyle won a lifetime achievement award.
Eyadini Lounge owner, Jabulani “Mjay” Zama, did not mince his words and said they did not serve T-Bone steak like other shisa nyamas did.
He said he had a strong feeling he could win the competition, but was not sure he would, as anything could happen in the event.
What defined him from others was that he made sure food was prepared and delivered quickly, Zama said.