Last week I summarised the first week of Season 4 of MasterChef SA, during which five contestants were eliminated:

This post summarises the second week of the series, during which three more contestants were eliminated.  Only 12 contestants go into this week of MasterChef SA. 

Once again, I present a background to each contestant:

Week 2 was a further step in the journey of the development of the Home cooks:

Episode 5:  The challenge of this episode was working with dried foods, a sweet, salty, or savoury dish having to be created from dried fruit, mandatory ingredients being dried peaches and cheese. In a last minute surprise, Judge Gregory Czarnecki added Mebos (sweet made from apricots which are pulped and flavoured with sugar and salt) to the challenge. Contestants Onti, Onezwa, and Charmaine had to step forward as bottom three for this challenge. Onezwa had to leave the MasterChef SA competition.

Episode 6:  The late Dorah Sithole was introduced as a culinary icon. She believed in using ingredients fresh from the garden. Mothers and grandmothers were the inspiration for the African dishes in this episode.  Sims made his Gogo’s pumpkin, ginger and orange soup. Charmaine’s Breyani was highly praised, and she won individual immunity for it. Onti, Alicia, and Didi were the bottom three. Alicia had to leave the show.

Episode 7: Chili was the focus of this episode.  Contestants received one of twelve chili or pepper ingredients, having to cook with it. Some contestants did not know the ingredients they were allocated. Andriette panicked when making her ice cream for the dish. James ran out of time. He had to leave the show. Tarryn was praised for her perfect dish.

Episode 8:  Chef and cookbook author Mokgadi Itsweng was introduced to the contestants as a plant-based food advocate. A team challenge was to create a grain-based dish, using foxtail millet, sorghum, or bambara nuts. A flatbread using one of the three grain types had to be prepared too. If that wasn’t a big enough team challenge, they also had to choose an extra ingredient, and make a 25 liter pot of soup to donate to Mokgadi’s charity Ladles of Love. The Red Team won the challenge.

 

Food producer in this series is Sarie Food Editor Herman Lensing. He stocked and styled the Pantry too.  Sustainable sourcing was his focus, and contestants were taught to reduce food wastage.