Africa-Press – Namibia. “ONE day I told my dad: I want to be like you. I want to be the best chef, just like you,” says Elizabeth Isai, who grew up watching her stepdad Albert Brandhuber cook for the family.
“His meals were always amazing. He inspired me to start cooking, and he told me to apply to the Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust) Hotel School,” says the 21-year-old.
Isai won the best competitor award at the just-ended WorldSkills Africa 2022, held at Swakopmund. The award is given to the overall best competitor across all skills.
She also bagged the gold prize in the cooking category. Being noticed as an excellent cook by her chef during the first year of her course, motivated Isai to take part in different initiatives. At WorldSkills Africa, Isai says she was the first to finish, beating competitors from Ghana, South Africa and Kenya by five minutes.
“I was telling myself that this is the last day, I have to put in my energy and not be scared. It was very full of people chanting and dancing, and I am surprised I wasn’t even scared at all,” she says.
“I made date and brandy pudding, brown chocolate mousse in a white chocolate cup, lemon ice parfait, cookie crumble and vanilla anglaise.
“I worked hard, I was telling myself this dessert should be the best among others, and it happened,” she says happily. Isai hopes to travel to different countries to learn about new recipes and menus, and one day open a small school to share what she learns.
“I’m going to take part in an African culinary award in Abu Dhabi next month. That’s where I will be training and also go to WorldSkills Shanghai 2022 in China, and go work in Germany.”
Chef lecturer at Nust Ralf Herrgott has known Isai since 2019 and describes her as a dedicated and hard-working young chef. “She is really good for her age, and we have trained her further. We also sent her on job attachments to gain more experience,” he says.
Meanwhile, NamPower’s vocational training trainee Antonia Hilzebecher also won gold in the electrical installations category at WorldSkills Africa. She will also represent Namibia at the 46th WorldSkills competition in Shanghai in October. This competition will bring together more than 1 400 young professionals, representing over 60 countries, who will compete in 60 skills.
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