Kick-start your dream career at Capsicum Culinary Studio

Founded in 2003, Capsicum Culinary Studio has earned a reputation as an institution that offers outstanding culinary education and training that is almost unrivalled on the continent. This makes it the number one choice among SA school graduates wanting a career in the hospitality and culinary industries.

The school's six modern campuses — located across SA in Gauteng (Boksburg, Rosebank and Pretoria), Cape Town, Durban and Nelson Mandela Bay — offer a wide range of courses to suit all ambitions. So whether a student's aspirations are to be an executive chef, baker, pastry chef, caterer or chef de cuisine, Capsicum offers the best opportunity for them to achieve their goals with its industry-leading, hands-on training and internationally endorsed qualifications.

At Capsicum, tradition meets innovation. Its purpose-built training facilities and experienced chef lecturers provide the ideal space and support to nurture and develop students' culinary skills. They gain hands-on experience and acquire the fundamental food skills to make them work-ready after graduation.

Both during and after completing their studies, Capsicum students are placed in the kitchens of many of the SA's finest establishments, with some even kick-starting their careers in Michelin Star restaurants such as Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen’s eatery Jan, located in Nice in the south of France.

Capsicum alumni are some of the most widely travelled SA culinary school graduates, working as far afield as Texas, Massachusetts and Florida in the US, Doha in Qatar, Dubai, and London, UK. Others have found their niche as private chefs on luxury yachts and one alumnus now runs his own successful restaurant in Lisbon, Portugal.

Locally, they can be found heading up kitchens in fine dining eateries all over the country, or running their own successful businesses baking cakes for celebrities. Two Nelson Mandela Bay alumni, who met on campus and got married after graduating, now own and manage Muse, one of Gqeberha’s most popular restaurants.

Historically, 95% of Capsicum graduates are employed in the industry after qualifying and the school offers several programmes from which to choose: 

• The Advanced Professional Chef Programme is for the future leaders of the culinary industry. It covers all major theoretical, practical and workplace components of kitchen operations, culinary practice and patisserie skill elements. It also includes effective leadership, self-development and communication, as well as sustainability and effective business management modules.
• The Professional Cookery Programme covers all major theoretical, practical and workplace components of kitchen operations and culinary practice. It includes a focus on soft skills such as kitchen supervision, self-development and communication and equips learners to enter the workforce confidently upon completion.
• The Professional Patisserie Programme is for the learner who identifies with meticulous detail and patient practice. The course covers all major theoretical, practical and workplace components of kitchen operations, patisserie practice and the basics of advanced pastry applications. Cost control and operational business management principles are a core focus.
• The Assistant Baker Skills Programme focuses on artisanal bread and craft baking to develop future bakers and people with artisan excellence. The skills are applicable to all sectors, from small- to large-scale retail bakeries, restaurants and big hotels.
• The Occupational Kitchen Hand Programme is the ideal stepping stone for those already working in the industry or those wanting to gain entry to a career in restaurant, catering and hotel kitchens. It brings together elements of food preparation and focuses on the basic skills required to operate in the food service industry.
• The Rookie Chef Programme is exclusive to high school pupils and is for avid cooks looking to master the art of culinary in a short space of time. In just a few months students learn basic cooking and knife skills, and turn from a kitchen novice to a kitchen master.

In addition, students can combine two programmes, such as the two-year Combination Professional Cookery and Professional Patisserie Programme, or the one-year Combination Occupational Kitchen Hand and Assistant Baker Skills Programme.

A key attribute of the school is its involvement in the culinary industry. Accredited, endorsed and respected by local and international bodies, Capsicum is actively involved in professional associations and forums, helping to shape the future of the industry and empowering its graduates to meet evolving demands. 

Capsicum’s qualifications are internationally recognised, and its accreditation means that it offers and confirms competency, authority and credibility through each of its programmes. The accrediting bodies it is registered with provide the curriculum requirements as well as quality-checking the school’s teaching and training processes, while setting and assessing final external exams where applicable, alongside certifying aligned programmes and successful graduates. 

Attend Capsicum Culinary Studio Nelson Mandela Bay's Open Day

Registrations are now open for the Nelson Mandela Bay campus July midyear intake.

Students are encouraged to visit the campus, located at 1 Newmarket Rd, Greenacres, for further assistance or to attend Capsicum’s Open Day on Saturday, June 22 from 9am to 12pm.

For more information, visit the Capsicum Culinary Studio website. 

Keep an eye out for exciting workshops

Capsicum Culinary Studio Nelson Mandela Bay has some exciting workshops lined up in collaboration with HeraldLIVE over the next couple of months. This includes Cake Decorating, Masterclass Hot Pot Night, Rookie Chef, Advanced Rookie Chef and Sip & Paint. For more information on these workshops, follow HeraldLIVE on Facebook.

The school is also available to host team building events and provide catering options to the Nelson Mandela Bay community.

This article was sponsored by Capsicum Culinary Studio.