Culinary skills in training

Well known for their culinary expertise, Granny Mouse Country House & Spa is perhaps one of the best training grounds for up-and-coming chefs. With an award winning menu and award winning chef, it is easy to see why any budding chef would jump at the opportunity to use the Hotel to sharpen their skills.

Throughout their first, second and third years of culinary school, trainee chefs are required to balance theoretical and practical applications to master their skills, and part of this process is securing six month internships where they hone their trade, and hopefully learn new skills under Executive Chefs.

Granny Mouse Country House & Spa has long undertaken involvement in such programs, offering internships to two trainee chefs at a time, from schools such as The Fusion Cooking School based in Durban, and Prue Leith Cooking Academy in Pretoria, to name just two.

According to Head Chef, Shaun Dampies, “we enjoy assisting trainee chefs with the practical applications of their theory, as we were all learning at some point in our careers.” Dampies went on to comment that he likes to allow the trainee chefs to have input on menus and allows them to bring their ideas to the table, as this creates an atmosphere of reciprocal learning and aids in creating new and fun dishes.

Some interns have been lucky enough to secure themselves permanent positions with Granny Mouse County House & Spa post internship, such as Sphamandla Ndlovu who used to work in the Granny Mouse kitchens on weekends to gain experience, and is now a full time employee.

General Manager, Sean Granger, commented that this is just one area where Granny Mouse feels that they are assisting in making a difference, and that they take pride in offering their trainee chefs one of the best training platforms possible.