Sports

Thursday February 23, 2012

Schwartzel out to sizzle as chef at Masters champs dinner


AUGUSTA (Georgia): Reigning Masters champion Charl Schwartzel wants to bring a unique South African flavour to the annual Masters Champions dinner this year – by doing the cooking himself.

Schwartzel has asked Augusta National Golf Club officials for permission to have what amounts to a cookout, hoping to handle the grilling of steaks, lamb and South African sausages himself.

“We’re going to try and do a barbecue – in South Africa we call it a ‘braai’,” Schwartzel said on Tuesday.

“I don’t like very formal dinners. I thought of keeping it very relaxed, sort of standing around a fire and cooking the meat. That’s what I hope to do.

“That’s what I do when I’m home on my off time. Basically every night I cook meat on the fire. I thought that was something to do.”

Augusta National officials have yet to agree to the idea, with concern that the sheer numbers for the select annual gathering could make the notion of a cookout format impossible.

“Only thing that could stop me probably if there’s too many people – then it’s very difficult to do the meat yourself,” he said. “But we’re still waiting for confirmation if it will be allowed, see how it works.

“Their initial response was obviously, ‘We’ll come back to you on that.’ I think it took them quite by surprise, maybe expecting something a little more different or more the way they always do it.”

A basic standard menu is typically offered in addition to the selections of the reigning champion for those past winners who are less adventurous with their culinary curiosity.

“I just find sometimes that I don’t enjoy these functions that are formal – you sit down, the food comes – I like it to be fun and relaxed, something that everyone will eat,” Schwartzel said.

“If you bring in funny sort of foods, not everyone eats it. That’s not what you want. I think everybody must be able to eat it and everybody must be able to enjoy it.” — AFP

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