Taking Namibian cuisine to the world

Gheanen Rudolph is set to represent Namibia at the ninth Young Chef Olympiad (YCO) later this month. The competition was launched in 2015 with the vision of offering a platform to bring global communities closer through food.The competition will see 40 chefs and their mentors from around the world take part. Namibia's participation in the competition will mark its sixth consecutive year.Love of foodRudolph started his career as a chef in 2020 at the Silver Spoon Hospitality Academy. This is the same academy that chose him to represent the country at the competition, alongside his mentor, Terry Jenkinson.Jenkinson's career began in 1990 as a chef at ML Sultan Hotel School. He represented South Africa in the 1995 World Pastry Cup in Lyon, France, as well as trained and accompanied the Namibia Young Chef team to Abu Dhabi in 2017 to compete in the Alan Thong Young Chef Competition.InspirationRudolph comes from a family of chefs, as both his father and grandmother were chefs and amazing cooks, which ignited his passion for the kitchen. He also drew inspiration from his supportive mother."My mother always being there for me and backing every decision I made has kept me inspired, but mainly I've always wanted to put Namibian cuisine on the map," he said.For the love of the kitchenRudolph loves that he can express himself through food."The plate is the canvas of a chef; that's where our art happens," said Rudolph.His favourite dish is a vegetarian dish that he plans to prepare at the competition. "It is weird that I have to prepare this dish, seeing as Namibians are meat eaters and there are not as many vegetarians."Preparing for the competitionConsistency and his past work are what made Rudolph the perfect representative for Namibia at the upcoming global competition. With the help of his mentor, he has been tirelessly training to prepare himself for the competition.He is constantly in the kitchen experimenting with different flavours, especially with indigenous Namibian ingredients, in order to introduce Namibian cuisine to the world. "This practising will help me meet my biggest expectation, which is to finish each dish of mine on time," he said. Rudolph is excited to represent Namibia in something that he has such a great passion for."Anything is possible. Just give it your all and put your mind to it; the rest will be history."

Taking Namibian cuisine to the world

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-09

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Taking Namibian cuisine to the world

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-09

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