The annual Daily Voice pickled fish competition is back and mense put their best vis forward in the hopes of winning their share of R10 000.
On Sunday, 17 hopefuls stieked uit for the first round of the competition and presented the panel of judges with their traditional - and some not so traditional - pickled fish dishes.
The panel of judges included Daily Voice marketing and brand officer, Olwethu Bhozo, Young Independents journalist Jane Folodi and of course the Cooksisters, Saafia February and yours truly.
You could smell the excitement and nerves, along with the pickled fish souse in the air as the hopefuls anxiously waited to share their dishes and stories.
Mense came from Blackheath, Gugulethu, Woodstock and Grassy Park with their bakkies, bordjies and Tupperware ready to impress.
PANEL: The judges at the Daily Voice Pickle Fish competition decide. Photo: Jack Lestrade
Just like any competition, there were a few hits and some misses, sadly, this year, the misses outnumbered the hits.
For me, a good pickled fish dish is about the sauce.
You have to get that perfect balance of sweet and sour from your sauce for your dish to be enjoyed.
A good tip we learned from one of the contestants this weekend is to dip a piece of dry bread in the sauce to taste if it’s ready.
Furthermore, the sauce also has to be the right consistency - not too thick and not too runny.
Another trick to perfecting this Easter staple is the preparation time.
Pickled fish can be made many days in advance and the longer you let it soak in the juice, the better your fish will taste.
Time definitely is your friend with this dish.
Unfortunately, it was the sauce that disappointed in most cases.
It was either too spicy, too sour, too oily or didn’t have that curry yellow colour.
When it comes to the fish, this usually depends on preference, availability and of course, affordability are key factors.
Capetonians love snoek so it’s no surprise that this was the fish of choice for most contestants.
It’s firmer and soaks the sauce up easily so that you don’t end up with a dry piece of fish if properly prepared.
Some mense added a mixture of different types of fish to enhance the flavour of their dish.
In the end, it was our three finalists, Sharon Kube from Silvertown, Ivan Southgate from Standfontein and Jackie Ching from Woodstock who impressed the judges the most.
Sharon prepared two fish dishes, stockfish and yellowtail. The flavours were well balanced and the different variety of fish didn’t change the flavour of the sauce.
Ivan impressed with his late mother’s pickled fish recipe by adding an unusual twist: mint sauce.
The mint sauce gave his dish a refreshing taste without taking away its original flavour.
Jaqueline’s dish was simple, with a great balance of flavour.
Come meet our finalists this Saturday at 10 am in the Golden Acre in Adderley Street, near the Shoprite entrance, where the winner will be announced.
Bonteheuwel celebrity chefs Flori Schrikker en Kulsum Kamali will also be on the judging panel.
The winner will walk away with R5 000 in cash, the second and third place runner-ups will win R3000 and R2000 respectively.
The prizes are sponsored by Snoek Wholesalers and Fish Rite.
Watch out for Captain Voice Power who will be handing out spot prizes.