If you noticed something fishy going on at the Golden Acre on Saturday, you were absolutely right.
The Daily Voice annual Pickled Fish competition finale took place in the piazza, and a new Pickled Fish queen has been crowned.
She’s none other than Sharon Kube, 56, from Silvertown, who came out tops after we received more than 1500 entries for our annual competition.
On Saturday, Sharon battled it out with two other finalists Jacqueline Ching, 69, from Woodstock, and Ivan Southgate, 44, of Strandfontein but in the end her fish was just too good to beat and she walked away with the R5 000 grand prize, courtesy of Fishrite (Snoek Wholesalers), and of course, bragging rights to making the lekkerste pickled fish innie Kaap.
DELISH: Dishes ready for judges' taste-off. Photo: Jack Lestrade
As the runners-up, Jacqueline and Ivan didn’t go away empty handed as each won cash prizes of R3000 and R2000 respectively.
The Golden Acre piazza was abuzz as Captain Voice Power got the crowd on their feet and mense even came on stage to jol.
HARD WORK: Judges had a tough job deciding on a winner. Photo: Jack Lestrade
The judging panel consisted of your two Cooksisters, along with Bonteheuwel celeb cookies, Aunty Kulsum Kamalie and Aunty Flori Schrikker, as well as Clement Bessick from our main sponsor, Fishrite (Snoek Wholesalers), who said the competition “was a blast”.
The Captain sommer held an impromptu dance-off and was able to give away kwaai spot prizes and vouchers, some of which were sponsored by Wimpy and Everyday Cafe in the Acre.
Our newly crowned winner was left speechless when she realised she had won.
FULL HOUSE: Packed crowd showed up for an annual event. Photo: Jack Lestrade
“I am very happy. I know the other two contestants also had good recipes and I think anyone of us could have won,” said Sharon.
“I am so proud that I could be a part of this and that my family could be here to support me. Thank you to all the judges who chose me today!”
Aunty Flori said she was impressed with the recipes: “Everyone here today is a winner. We had three very good recipes and they make me proud.
“The balance between the sweet and sour is not so easy to achieve and preserving the flavour of the fish is essential. Our cooks today presented beautiful dishes,” Aunty Flori said.
#IndyMediaEvents Thread | Congratulations @DailyVoiceSA Pickle Fish competition winner 2019🥇 Sharon Kube 👏. People are at the heart & soul @IndyMediaSA😃 pic.twitter.com/9aTfvT4QBG
— Independent Media (@IndyMediaSA) April 16, 2019
The Daily Voice editor, Taariq Halim, said: “This was our best-pickled fish competition to date. The fish was top notch.
“Congratulations to Sharon Kube and our other finalists. And thanks to Fishrite (Snoek Wholesalers) for sponsoring the kwaai fish and prizes. We hope the readers will have a lekker Easter with these fantastic recipes.”