Fuel your culinary passion at Capsicum Culinary Studio

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Capsicum Culinary Studio – which was recently voted one of the top 10 culinary schools in Africa by Awakening Africa magazine – is the largest chef school of its kind in South Africa with six campuses throughout the country and graduates who work around the world.

Capsicum has branches in Boksburg, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay and Pretoria which collectively maintain a 95% pass rate. It also has more local and international accreditations and associations than most chef training institutes in South Africa.

Qualifications on offer include the one-year professional cookery programme, the hugely popular one-year patisserie programme, three-year chef programme and various masterclasses.

In the 18 years since it was first established, Capsicum Culinary Studio has produced more than 7 000 alumni who are now working all over the world and who have established themselves as leaders within various markets. Employers range from boutique establishments to large multi-national hotels and resorts. Others have taken the entrepreneurial route and established their own hospitality-inspired businesses and consultancies.

Capsicum Culinary Studio courses offer dual international certification through City and Guilds and are nationally accredited with CATHSSETA and the QCTO,  attributing to their alumni making their mark throughout the world.

Capsicum offers nationally accredited qualification offerings through The Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) and CATHSSETA with optional City and Guilds dual certifications linked thereto. Skills programmes and part qualifications also form part of their accreditation with multifple programme articulation pathways to assist students in continued  life long learning.

Capsicum Culinary Studio has partnerships with The Swiss Education Group (SEG), the American Hotel Academy (AHA) and are members of The South African Chefs Association, and by extension The World Association of Chefs Societies, exposing learners to international standards and opportunities.

There are numerous successful Capsicum alumni around the world including:

  • Chef Wandile Mabaso who was this year named the Chef of the Year at the Luxe Restaurant Awards. This award is particularly special to the Les Créatifs head chef, his first culinary award in South Africa after spending over a decade overseas and in many top restaurants across the globe.
  • Chef Marcus Modimokwane came to popularity during the national lockdown in South Africa, where he became a favourite chef thanks to his “easy to make at home meals” videos.  He has been featured in a number of publications and TV shows like the eTV Morning Show.
  • Winning a bursary to study at Capsicum Culinary Studio changed Genghis San’s life. He is currently the executive chef at AKA Lead Kitchen at the Radisson RED Rosebank. This wasn’t Chef San’s only major achievement during his stellar career.
  • He also reached the regionals for Unilever’s Junior Chef of the Year and achieved executive chef status at the age of 24.
  • If you wander down Rua Braamcamp in Lisbon, Portugal, you’ll come across one of the city’s best coffee and pastry shops called Simpli. Reviewers on Trip Adviser give the venue five stars and all, without exception, rave about the freshly roasted coffee and the breads and cakes that are made on the premises several times a day. And if you sneak into Simpli’s small kitchen, you are likely to bump into a tall young South African by the name of Hendrik Pretorius, elbow deep in mixing bowls, creating delectable treats for their customers. Pretorius, 26, who originally hails from Heidelberg in Gauteng, is living the dream and doing what he loves to do – bake!
  • Simphiwe Zondi’s Capsicum journey led him to become a chef and baker who has gone on to make special occasion cakes for a host of South African celebrities including Thembi Nyandeni, Basetsana Kumalo and Bonang Mathebe.

If you want to join the legion of successful alumni and are looking to explore your study and career opportunities for 2023 , then take part in the next Capsicum Open Day which takes place at all of its campuses on Saturday, October 1, from 08h00 to 12 noon. To apply on the day, a R1000 application fee and presentation of an ID book is required. For more information go to https://www.capsicumcooking.com/open-days or contact your local Capsicum campus.

Capsicum was established in 2003 and was acquired by ADvTECH in 2016. Further information can be found online at www.capsicumcooking.com or by calling:

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