Mohalenyane Phakela
THE Lesotho Chefs Association will from January 2021 introduce a meat cutting and cooking expertise course in its drive to improve the local hospitality industry.
The course will be offered at Dona@Balos Chef and Hospitality School.
Association president Chef Donald Moletsane told the Weekender that the course was necessitated by the need to improve the quality of meet cuts that are offered in restaurants and how they are prepared.
Blockmen specialise in cutting meet cuts for restaurants and butcheries.
“We intend to do this in conjunction with the introduction of the A-grade beef which allows chefs varieties because it is tender, soft and cooks quickly,” Chef Donald said.
“The course will introduce blockmen who will be able to prepare medium, rare and well-done steaks easily. The blockmen will be able to make different meat cuts and will also know how to prepare the steaks differently.”
The A-grade beef that will be used for the course will be imported from South Africa while the cuts will be sold to local consumers. They have already acquired a licence for meet importation. Chef Donald however, said they intend to eventually use locally sourced meats.
“Selling the meat will enable us to raise funds for competitions. We are creating a skill for chefs to know about meat…
“We have partnered with a Johannesburg-based company to source the A-grade beef. This is a temporary arrangement while we are looking for a 120 hectares farm where we will build an abattoir. We will start by ordering caucuses that the students will cut.
“I am confident that the course will help improve our hospitality. I am confident in the current Minister of Tourism, Environment and Culture (Lekhetho Rakuoane). He has already engaged different stakeholders in the tourism sector to brainstorm on how we can improve the hospitality sector. My dream is to see Lesotho having a culinary university which will offer different culinary courses,” Chef Donald said.
