- Gondwana Kalahari Park/ News



		News 2007News 04.06.07


		Vote of Excellence for Anib's Cuisine - 04.06.07 What guests have been pointing out for months has now been confirmed at top-level: Johannes Kahdila, the chef at Anib, is a master in the art of cooking. The 32-year-old won the Junior Category in the competition held by the Namibian Chef Association at the Namibia Tourism Expo in Windhoek. His three-course menu convinced the fussy palates of the jury: guinea fowl crisps on spicy mascarpone, Springbok !Xthom (tenderly braised) wrapped in fillet of goat and pancetta (Italian smoked ham) on grilled Swakopmund asparagus, and a rum & date mousse with a saffron-chocolate sauce. Kahdila came first among eleven competitors - even though he has only been working as a chef since August 2006.



		NCA-Vice Chairman Terry Jenkinson congratulates Johannes Kahdila on the title 'Best Junior Chef'.

		He learnt the art of cooking while he was a kitchen help at Kalahari Anib Lodge for six months. “Johannes is talented, works hard, wants to learn and learns very fast”, his instructor, Lodge Manager Jaco Visser, says proudly. “As a boy I used to cook for my parents and siblings, with a three-legged pot over a fire”, Johannes beams. “I never burnt anything,” he adds with an impish smile. But most of his life he tended cattle and planted Mahangu. He first dealt with foodstuffs from 1994 to 1999: at the Springer chocolate factory he made marzipan, chocolates and cream truffles. Jaco Visser also worked for Springer at that time. When they bumped into one another in Mariental in January 2006, Visser hired him on the spot for the kitchen at Kalahari Anib Lodge.