Sanet Prinsloo

She is the coordinator of this year's chefs theatre at the Namibia Tourism Expo.
Sanet is a people's person whose spontaneity brings entertainment and joy to everyone in her company.
Her CV tells the story of a life dedicated to the pleasure and enjoyment of the taste buds. In 1991 she completed a BSc degree in Home Economics at the University of the Orange Free State. The next year she obtained a working Visa for the United Kingdom and worked as a Breakfast Chef at 190 Queen's Gate restaurant in South Kensington. This restaurant was run by Anthony Worral Thompson, who later started the BBC Food Channel.

Here Sanet received extensive on-the-job training from Head Chef Chris Millar. "I gained almost all my knowledge about food in this time and I learnt that beef should be eaten medium rare or not at all. Well done meat is not tasty and it is not easily digested," Sanet says.
She also worked with the celebrity chef James Martin, who is also featured on BBC Food. In 1994 Sanet returned to Windhoek and worked for Gamsberg McMillan for six months and star-ted cooking for hunters on a Kalahari farm on weekends during the hunting season. In 1995 she opened "Fiela's" Coffee Shop in Windhoek. The shop was sold in 1996 when she started doing private catering with Marina Jarret and assisted Patsy MacDonald in opening the Cicada Café at Wilde Eend Nursery.

In 1997 Sanet took over ownership of the Blue Olive and immediately began catering from there. "It was great fun managing the shop and I enjoyed sourcing exotic products and importing them. I sold the shop in May 2001 when my oldest son was nine months old. Since then I have been a full time mom and my three sons keep my very busy. I started baking small cakes on the insistence of my friend who runs Blue Olive and I now deliver weekly batches that are sold in the shop.

She married Kobus Prinsloo and in 2000 sold Blue Olive to the current owner Janina Clinning.
She still lives in Windhoek with husband Kobus Prinsloo and enjoys cooking and entertaining more than ever.
Sanet is also a well respected judge who has often judged Meatco's National Braai competition. In 1999 she took her first bow as judge at the Meatco competition held in Okahandja. Afterwards she also judged at competitions in Windhoek, Kamanjab and Nina.
In April this year she was the chief judge at Meatco's braai competition held in Gobabis.

By Estelle de Bruyn