Local chefs multi-award winners

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MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Two Mossel Bay chefs are champions and multi-award winners.

Collin du Plessis and Matt Bronkhorst, who manage a deli and pizzeria in town, were crowned the Champion of Champions in the Laat die Potte Prut competition on television last Tuesday, 31 May.

In this TV show, pairs of people cook up the most amazing potjiekos, with side dishes and baked items. Collin and Matt were previous winners of the competition and in the final, they were up against other pairs who had won before.

PHOTO GALLERY: Laat die Potte Prut competition Champions

Collin explains: "In the final competition, there were eight episodes with three hours' cooking and an hours' elimination time in each. Every week a team was eliminated."

Although the filming was done from January to February, the episodes were only shown on TV from April. The final show was on 31 May.

Collin says: "We won in June/July last year and then we were contacted in December last year, when the producers said they wanted to get all the winning teams together to compete."

Pizza makers

Collin, in 2014, and Matt, in 2019, won the South African leg of the Global Pizza Challenge and then in 2015 Collin went through to the international final of the challenge, which was held in Australia, and won that too.

They also came seventh in the 2013 Ultimate Braai Master, where they were known as the Boerie Brothers, and right now they are waiting to hear if they have made it to TV show, My Kitchen Rules (MKR), on M-Net.

VIDEO - Mossel Bay chefs are champions (Video: Linda Sparg).

They have been in Mossel Bay for three months. "What a beautiful town. It's one of the most beautiful towns I have ever lived in and it's so clean," Collin says.

He and Matt moved here from Robertson. "We came to Mossel Bay because a friend bought a deli and asked us if we wanted to run it and open a pizzeria, so we left the farm area of Robertson to come to the sea, which we adore."

In the Champion of Champions Laat die Potte Prut competition, Collin and Matt chose to make a surf and turf pot, with steak and prawns, and then competing in the final, they were given corn, oxtail, flour, pumpkin custard powder and an orange.

They had to bake something, so they made bread. Their main pot was the oxtail and their sides were a pumpkin pie and medley of vegetables. The cherry on the top, which drew much acclaim, was Matt's malva pudding with a milk tart topping.

Collin du Plessis and Matt Bronkhorst in the "uniform" they wore on Laat die Potte Prut, where they were called the Karoo Boeries. Matt is holding a previous award from a pizza competition. Photo: Linda Sparg

Pudding

Collin told the Mossel Bay Advertiser that he and Matt catered for an event in town this week and they made the pudding again and "people were crazy about it".

Talking about how he started cooking, Collin says: "We had a guest house and decided to make pizzas." They were in McGregor, 24 kilometres away from Robertson, and their guests were asking for pizzas. "I thought: What does a boer know about pizza? But I got a recipe and our pizzas became popular.

"I'm not even a vegetarian, but we made a roasted vegetable pizza with feta cheese, a balsamic vinegar glaze and rocket."

Culinary judges ate at the restaurant and loved the pizza. This resulted in Collin and Matt's Global Pizza Challenge SA awards and Collin going to Australia and winning.

Collin was given a "blind pot" to make a dessert pizza in Australia. The blind pot included Ferrero Rocher chocolates, Nutella spread, strawberries and the type of honeycomb you find in Crunchie chocolate bars.

Collin and Matt want to contribute to the community.

They have already held a pizza-making event for a school and they plan more charitable pizza and pot events.

VIDEO - Chefs named champions. The moment when the Karoo Boeries, who live in Mossel Bay, were announced Champions of Champions on Laat die Potte Prut on television on 31 May. The Karoo Boeries are Collin du Plessis (left) and Matt Bronkhorst. (Video: Supplied).