​Seven South African chefs were announced as ‘Trailblazers’ in the 2015 WWF-SASSI Trailblazer Awards, held at The Table Bay Hotel, on Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront on Monday, 30th November 2015.
 
The seven awarded chefs are:
 
Chef Peter Pankhurst - Savoy Cabbage Restaurant
 
Chef Greg Coleman - East Head Café, Knysna
 
Chef Michelle Theron - Pierneef à La Motte
 
Chef Jocelyn Myers-Adams – Table Bay Hotel
 
Chef Hylton Espey - Equus at Cavalli Wine Estate
 
Chef Sias Tabambi - Harbour House Restaurant
 
Chef Jonathan Japha - Black Sheep Restaurant
 
Building on the phenomenal success of SASSI’s "Green, Orange, Red” guide amongst the South African public, the SASSI Trailblazer Awards recognise and celebrate chefs who are actively championing sustainable seafood practices in their restaurants.

Pavs Pillay, SASSI Programme Manager at WWF-SA, commented, “Our partnerships with chefs are inspired by a love of seafood and a shared commitment to help restore our overexploited seafood species. The chefs we are recognising have gone the extra mile in advocating the sustainability message.”
 
A previously awarded Trailblazer, and now Mentor, Chef Brad Ball of Peddlars & Co. in Constantia, Cape Town, added; “Chefs serve as the gatekeepers for the food and hospitality industry and therefore play a critical role in leading market forces and influencing popular taste. The reality is that chefs who support and promote ocean-friendly seafood can help ensure that there are fish to catch and enjoy tomorrow. My role is to do this, and to make up-and-coming chefs aware of what’s at stake.”
 
Clare Mack, of Spill Communications, and the awards organiser, said, “It’s gratifying to see, in the third year of these awards, that many restaurants are adopting sustainable practices in seafood, without any intervention or prompting. Sustainability is now mainstream, it has really caught on.”
 
The criteria on which the restaurants and chefs were assessed were:
               The restaurant’s seafood sustainability policy;
               The effectiveness of their communication of their seafood sustainability practices to their customers, employees and suppliers;
               Their level of engagement in communicating their seafood sustainability practices to a wider audience (e.g. via social media, TV appearances, etc.);
               The ‘Trailblazer factor’ i.e. those chefs and restaurants that are going the extra mile in promoting and supporting seafood sustainability.
 
The SASSI Media Award for 2015 was won by Daisy Jones, a journalist, for her cookery book, Star Fish, published by Quivertree Press. Daisy’s cookbook is a collection of recipes using only green listed seafood.
 
To find out more information on sustainable seafood choices visit http://wwfsassi.co.za/

South Africa’s first ever rosé wine competition has been launched, chaired by industry personality, Allan Mullins.  

Called ‘Rosé Rocks!’, this competition seeks to recognise excellence in rosé winemaking and to promote the South African rosé category. 

9 top South African wine judges will pick the best rosé wines made in the country.

Whether your taste is for a bone dry, pale pink rosé, or something a little sweeter with a bit more body, this increasingly popular style of wine has something for everyone. Rosé is the fastest growing category of wine in South Africa. Sales have trebled between 2007 and 2014.  

Allan Mullins commented, “This is an exciting development for consumers and winemakers alike. There's no doubt about it, rosé wine has sex appeal! It’s also the most versatile of wines, great for sociable occasions and it really works well with a wide range of foods.”  

Judging will take place on the 9th September 2015. Results will be announced shortly afterwards. All wines being entered have to be produced in South Africa.  

Following the announcement of the winners there will be a wine tasting open to the public.  

To read more about this exciting new competition please visit the website: www.roserocks.co.za.

You can also follow the news on Twitter: @RoseRocksSA.

We've recently sent out a call for entries for Rosé Rocks! South Africa's first rosé wine competition, where wine guru, Allan Mullins is the judging chair.

The idea behind Rosé Rocks is to promote the rosé wine category both nationally and
internationally, and give it the boost it deserves. The Rosé Rocks! awards will recognise top labels and producers of both rosé wine and MCC in South Africa.

The awards will be held in September and will be followed by many other exciting rosé wine events.

“As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.”

― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

Folks sure have been captivated by oysters over the years. In fact, modern scientists attribute the origin of man to them. A small group of hominid seashore scavengers, near Mossel Bay, consumed them as a central part of their diet.

The omega and omega 3 fatty acids resulted directly in the growth in the sizes of their brains and intelligence, the human race evolved, and the rest is history.

We have a lot to thank this humble little shellfish for.

You can enjoy oysters of different sizes and ages at Mondiall on November 1st. Better still, you’ll be able to pair them with some of the countries best MCC’s, including Graham Beck Brut, Steenberg’s fantastic new sparkling sauvignon blanc, and Laborie’s multi award winning Blanc de Blanc MCC 2010.

For a different, enjoyable and interesting Saturday brunch, this is the one to go for.

For a chance to win 2 sets of free tickets to this great event follow our tweetstream on @mackspill