* Is the only Motswana nominated in Foodie Award category this year
* Was selected after making the Top 5 out of 1500 entries
BONGANI MALUNGA
Culinary content creator Kenneth Tebogo Middleton has been nominated for the 2024 DStv Content Creator Awards that are scheduled to take place in Johannesburg on 12 October.
Middleton has been nominated for the Foodie Award alongside four other competitors.
Cross over
He is the latest Botswana culinary talent to attain crossover appeal in the South African market, following in the footsteps of Rachel Tlagae (Rachel’s Table) and Pearl Sechele (The Pretty Chef) who have gained mainstream media coverage and recognition.
The self-taught chef will battle against content creators such as Sifo the Cooking Husband, Cooking with Zanele, Karabo Didi and Mush Kitchen in the category.
Middleton is the only Motswana nominated in the Foodie Award category this year after he made the Top 5 out of 1500 entries.
The entry process started on 3 May and concluded on 21 June.
Other categories will be open for public voting but the Foodie Award will be decided by a panel of judges.
Over the moon
When Time Out caught up with him, Middleton who expressed his delight in being nominated alongside content creators that he has looked up to over the years.
“I am over the moon,” he said. “It is an honour to be recognised and nominated amongst my fellow nominees. These are content creators I have looked up to and acquired plenty of inspiration from.
Nerve wrecking
“It was nerve-wrecking when I received an email informing me that I had made the Top 10. I was to wait to find out if I had cracked the Top 5 to become an official nominee.
“Sure enough, a week later it was announced and I was informed that out of 1500 entries in the Foodie category, the judges had scored me tops.
“The nerves are back as I await the 12th of October for the award ceremony in Johannesburg to find out if I shall be victorious,”
Consistency
The local culinary content creator has built an impressive social media following of 640 745 across four major social media platforms, namely Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter) and TikTok.
On TikTok, his videos have garnered over 1 million likes thus far. Middleton has demonstrated that his culinary creativity knows no bounds as he has shared recipes on local cuisine while also touching on Asian, European and American dishes.
Creativity
He has a knack for creating meals from scratch, which takes his audience on a detailed journey of turning ingredients into a visually pleasing meal.
Middleton has a clear culinary philosophy of avoiding ready-made products and urges his followers to steer clear of taking shortcuts and to instead immerse themselves in the time-consuming yet rewarding process of seeking culinary perfection.