Culinary excellence and pushing boundaries in South Africa's food scene is something that McCain and N1 Restaurant Suppliers have in common. As one of N1 Restaurant Suppliers' house brands for frozen vegetables, McCain is constantly innovating, and encouraging the chefs of South Africa to innovate too. One such initiative is the annual Tribute to Good Taste Competition for both professional and student chefs.  

An exciting competition that challenges chefs to become the next #McCainTrendsetter, the McCain Foods Tribute to Good Taste is a competition that challenges talented, tenacious and tasteful individual with a passion for setting trends in the foodservice industry to win the ultimate prize.

To enter the competition you need to develop a main course dish which includes one McCain potato and one McCain vegetable product in the ingredients list. Your recipe can include any other fresh meats or vegetables, and N1 encourages you to peruse through the list of tantalising products on the website to help you devise your winning menu. 

Whether it's an avant-garde take on classic fish and chips with mushy peas, or a beautiful McCain sweet potato and chorizo wrap presented in a modern and intriguing way, your dish must incorporate your take on the upcoming global trend in the foodservice industry. 

Your recipe should stand at the forefront of menu innovation, oozing oomph as a symbol of what’s hot in modern food fashion and flair. In addition to exuding quality and freshness, being nutritious, convenient to prepare, appealing to the eye and delectable to the palate; your innovative main course dish must inspire a plethora of tantalising tastes and sensory stimuli. 

Once you have decided on your recipe, visit www.mccaintrendsetter.co.za to submit your entry along with an explanation of the inspiration behind the recipe and relevant accompanying photographs; and you could then win R10 000 in cash in the Top Student category or R15 000 in cash in the Professional Chef category. 

The winners in both categories will walk away with a McCain Tribute to Good Taste floating trophy for their category and enjoy guaranteed publicity.

Four finalists in each category will be selected by virtue of their entries to compete in the final cook-off at InfoChef Africa 2014 at the Nasrec Johannesburg Expo Centre on 02 October 2014, where South African Chefs Association-accredited judges John Boehler (Operations Director of Fedics), Henrik Jonsson (Head Chef at University of Johannesburg School of Tourism and Hospitality), Siyabulela Kobo (Self-employed) and Richard Pearce (Owner at Totally Kosher) will determine if your #McCainTrendsetter dish is the next big thing. 

For full competition details and rules visit www.mccaintrendsetter.co.za and to stir your culinary creativity further, take a look at N1 Restaurant Suppliers product list for inspiration as you put together a recipe that will wow the judges.  

NOTE: Entries must reach the South African Chefs Association by midnight on Friday 29th August 2014 and may be submitted online at www.mccaintrendsetter.co.za, by fax to (011) 482-7260 or email to events@saca.co.za or events2@saca.co.za. Entries may also be posted to The South African Chefs Association, P.O. Box 291305, Melville, 2109 (please mark clearly: McCain Tribute to Good Taste 2014).