Sat Oct 03 14:28:14 UTC 2009
The Shoprite Checkers Championship Boerewors crown for 2009 was awarded to a housewife from the Northern Cape at the competition’s thrilling grand finale held in Sun City’s Valley of Waves this past Saturday. Elizabeth Lesley of Kuruman competed against nine other provincial finalists with her unique traditional boerewors recipe and walked away with the much sought-after title of Boerewors Champion as well as the magnificent prize of a brand-new Toyota Hilux 2.7 Double Cab Raised Body Raider. This was a dream that finally came true for Elizabeth who contended for the crown as Northern Cape finalist in 2007 and 2008.
Second place was awarded to Annetjie Fourie from Brits and Bennie Nothnagel from Hillcrest in Durban, took third place.
Now in its seventeenth year, the Championship Boerewors competition proved to be as popular as ever. More than a thousand of the country’s best boerewors makers have been brandishing braai-tongs in this sizzling battle since August, competing in 87 regional rounds country-wide, before the ten best recipes were selected during the various provincial clashes held in September.
At the grand finale an independent judging panel comprising of top food experts Martin Kobald, Carmen Niehaus, Peter Veldsman, Reuben Riffel, Dorah Sitole and Arnold Tanzer had the daunting task of singling out one winner from this year’s selection of truly unique and outstanding finalists’ entries. Entries were initially judged in raw form, followed by a braai-off during which contestants had to prepare their own secret recipe boerewors to the best of their abilities.
Actress Brumilda van Rensburg and radio personality Johan Rademan were the compères for the day and entertained the crowds on the beach. Huisgenoot Musiekplaas also added to the excitement of the day providing top class entertainment with exceptional South African musical talent such as Jason Hartman, Broers (Christo, Cobus and Nic Snyman), Cheree Large, Jakkie Louw & Band, Karlien Husselman, Gerhard Steyn, Willem Botha, Zak van Niekerk and Graeme Watkins.
The other seven finalists who competed for the title and the grand prize were: John Miller, who works in the vehicle spare parts department of a local distributor in Port Elizabeth; Frances Pelser - a homemaker from Kroonstad; Markus Stander - an administrative supervisor at steel works in Germiston; Johan Botha - a block man at a butchery in Vereeniging; Kobus Nel - the butchery manager of a fresh foods retailer in Louis Trichardt; Victor Lourens - a trainee manager at Shoprite Nelspruit; and Deon Stassen - a Meat Market manager at Shoprite Beaufort Wes.
This truly South African event – the Championship Boerewors Competition - is annually presented by Shoprite Checkers to provide Boerewors makers with the opportunity to show their flair for producing the tastiest Boerewors in the country. Furthermore the competition assists the supermarket group in staying abreast with consumer needs and tastes and enables them to provide a quality meat product that reflects the value on offer in the Meat Market departments of all Shoprite and Checkers stores.
Consumers will not have to wait too long to taste the supermarket group’s new Championship Boerewors as this quality product will be available in the Meat Markets of all Shoprite, Checkers and Checkers Hyper stores countrywide as from Wednesday, 14 October. The 2009 Shoprite Checkers Championship Boerewors will receive the South African Chefs Association’s Seal of Approval, ensuring that South Africa’s best loved boerewors brand is the best of the very best!
EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES:
Lise-Marie Greeff-Villet
Shoprite Checkers Communications Department
(021) 980-4460
lgreeff@shoprite.co.za
03 October 2009
For more information on winners, prizes and competition events visit the Championship Boerewors web site: www.championshipboerewors.co.za.