Inspired by the film Ratatouille and Chef Zola Nene, it has always been 19-year-old Eugenea Seroka’s dream to become a chef and this month she starts on her journey to fulfil her goal.
The talented Seroka, who comes from Daveyton, is one of five regional winners of the Capsicum Chef Talent Scout competition. Her prize? A one-year bursary at Capsicum Culinary Studio’s Boksburg campus which is worth nearly R90 000. To enter the competition, contestants had to create and submit a sweet or savoury dish using a red capsicum pepper or any other red ingredient.
We got the aspiring chef to answer some questions as well as share the winning recipe for her curry chicken stew served with dumplings:
Tell us a bit about yourself?
I grew up in a small township outside Benoni called Daveyton where I still live with my mother, two nephews, my uncle and cousin. I completed matric last year - a year filled with a mountain of abnormalities, delays and confusion. However, I made it with a distinction in visual arts and a university entrance.
Where and when did your passion for food start?
It was when the film Ratatouille was released. That’s when, at the age of six, I would run off to the backyard, pull and pluck at leaves and flowers, collect empty tinned food cans and use their lids as knives and plastic caps as platters. I'd be gone for hours consumed in a culinary world in my own fantasy Italian restaurant! Later I always watched Espresso every morning to see Zola Nene cook. I was so inspired by her that in Grade 10 I took dramatic arts and consumer studies because I wanted to become a TV chef! I knew then where my heart and passion lay and that was in food. However, it hasn’t been easy considering the exploration of food was limited to the same dishes and recipes in the household I grew up in.
Why did you decide to enter the competition?
I really wanted to set myself up for this challenge and find whether I was good enough or not. I entered with the hopes of receiving financial relief and also wanting to be part of the Capsicum family.
How did you come up with your winning recipe and what is it?
The dish was inspired by my mom’s “magic touch” cooking. It is a curry chicken stew served with dumplings, a refreshing cucumber, tomato, onion and carrot salad and an Indian tonic water infused grape juice decorated with blueberries.
What does winning a bursary mean to you?
Being a winner has given me hope for a better future. It has given me power and a sense of achievement. One day I hope my story will inspire others.
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