Plate of Namibia finalists chosen

Team Namibia’s Plate of Namibia competition brought to you by FNB Namibia, Pick n Pay and MTC received an overwhelming response from the Namibian public, with nearly 65 valid entries received from across the country. Team Namibia initiated this national cooking competition to raise awareness of the variety of Namibian products available to use as part of everyday life; celebrate Namibian independence with local food and drink and to showcase upcoming Namibian talent.
Due to the fact that the Nation will be celebrating the 23rd year of Namibian independence this year, the contestants were given a list of 23 Team Namibia ingredients to inspire food-lovers to create their own Namibian recipes in order to highlight the wide range of Namibian products available to use in cooking.
The semi-finals were held at the Polytechnic Hotel School on Friday, 8th March 2013. Judges evaluated the semi-finalists’ prepared dishes based on taste, creativity for using the 23 Team Namibia ingredients, appearance, Namibian-ness and originality.
After extensive tastings, the judges announced five finalists who will compete in a live cook-off competition on Saturday, 23rd March at Pick n Pay Auas Valley from 09h00 – 12h00pm. The judging panel consists of Ralf Herrgott, Chef Lecturer at Hotel School, Polytechnic of Namibia; Twapewa Kadhikua, Owner of Xwama Cultural Village and Rebekka Hidulika, Owner and Creator of Fusion Restaurant.
The five finalists that were selected by the judging panel are Mirjam Djalo, William Smith, Caty Shemuvalula, Klaus-Theodor Lubowski and Liezl Hoving.
Lizette Foot, General Manager of Team Namibia commented: “I was deeply encouraged by the overwhelming interest in the PLATE OF NAMIBIA competition this year, in particular all the enquiries we received about Namibian products. What we thought might be a challenging list of ingredients at first, turned out to be an exceptional showcase of proudly Namibian cuisine!”