Alumnus: Sham Cerfonteyn

Sham Cerfonteyn’s passion for music and food.

As a small girl, Sham Cerfonteyn was more interested in cooking shows than cartoons on TV, and all because of her love of food which was inspired by watching her mother and grandmother cooking in the kitchen.

But fate had other ideas, and after leaving school, 34-year-old Cerfonteyn, who resides in Willow Glen in Gqeberha, spent a brief time studying analytical chemistry before venturing into her other big love – DJing. It was only last year that she decided to venture back into the kitchen professionally.

“I’d been a successful DJ for over 15 years before I finally decided to go to culinary school. Besides cooking, DJing has always been a passion of mine, and I knew that one day I would tie the two together. Music moved me abroad and enabled me to see and experience a different side of life living and working in the Middle East. A few years later I returned home and found myself walking into Capsicum Culinary Studio’s Nelson Mandela Bay campus and signing up for the school’s one-year Professional Chef Programme.”

After graduating, Sham started work at a new family-style restaurant called Elements, which is located in Little Chelsea.

”This has been my biggest accomplishment of my life to date, and I can proudly say that I now run one of three kitchens at the establishment,” she says.

Cerfonteyn still DJs on the side, so if she has a weekend gig, she sometimes only gets to bed after 1am and has a few hours’ sleep before her alarm goes off for the start of another day.

So where does she see herself in five years’ time?

“Definitely owning my own establishment. My ultimate goal is to own a beach bar, combining great street food with amazing music. I firmly believe that good food and good music brings awesome people together. That’s going to be my success story one day!”