Tag Archives: MasterChef SA Season 2

MasterChef SA Season 2 episode 27: Seasoning Seline van der Wat’s downfall! Kamini Pather and Leandri van der Wat Top Two!

MasterChef 2 27 Kamini and Seline Whale Cottage PorfolioAfter a traumatic week in episodes 25 and 26, Kamini Pather made a strong come back in episode 27 last night, leaving all her emotions at home, and focusing on the task at hand.  Seline van der Wat was rattled a number of times, mainly by her fall, which led to her downfall.

The episode started with Leandri van der Wat arriving at the Tsogo Sun 54 on Bath hotel in Johannesburg, her prize for winning the cook-out in episode 26 – not only did she win the trip to Johannesburg, but she also won a chef’s jacket with the privilege of making it straight into the Finale.  The table she was seated at at the hotel was set for four, and she was delighted when her father, her youngest sister, and her MatserChef 2 27 Leandri father and sister Whale Cottage Portfoliobest friend surprised her by joining her for dinner.  Her father was clearly proud of his daughter, wiping away his tears as he made a speech in her honour, and especially when he handed her a cross which belonged to her late mother as a symbol of good luck. He also gave her a bunch of yellow roses, the favourite colour and flower of her mother.  Leandri said that she was Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 3 September

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The Mutual & Federal Agri Wellington Wine Route’s ‘Quest for the Best’  is coming to Cape Town tomorrow at the Southern Sun Waterfront Hotel, at the cost of R60.  Wellington wines will be offered for tasting, with the recently selected ‘Quest for the Best’ Top Ten Wines and Top Spirits. (received via Wellington Wine Route newsletter)

*   There are more than 40000 hotel rooms being built in Africa in the next four years, 10% of these in Lagos in Nigeria alone.  No South African city appears on the top hotel room construction list.

*   Retail sales only grew by 1,5% in the past year, and it is the low income shoppers who are shopping less and closer to home.   This has affected retailers at the bottom end Continue reading →

MasterChef SA Season 2 episode 24: Month-end creation challenge rattles Finalists (and viewers)!

MasterChef 2 24 Five Finalists Whale Cottage PortfolioLast night’s episode 24 seemed far too basic a challenge for the Top 5 Finalists of Season 2, and gave a new perspective on the cooking contestants, the unusualness of the challenge rattling them, and it was a surprise to see how some of the strong ones lost their focus, made mistakes, and will pay the price in a Pressure Test in episode 25 next week.

The challenge was unusual in that the Pantry was the Mystery Box, the Finalists having 60 minutes in which to prepare a dish from what was available to them, 8 minutes being deducted for the briefing.  Each of the Finalists had a SMEG fridge with an odd collection of ingredients resembling left-overs, there being very few things in each, as well as some dry ingredients, including eggs, sugar, bacon, olives, gherkins, cake flour, Cornflakes, pasta, sardines, pilchards, tuna, cheese, tomatoes, maple syrup, and more.  The Finalists were to replicate a typical month-end scenario, prior to pay day, and one having friends arrive unannounced for whom one prepared a dish with what is available.  The judges wanted Continue reading →

MasterChef SA Season 2 episode 23: Leandri van der Wat praised by Chef Prue Leith, Tiron Eloff sauced out!

MasterChef 2 23 Tea table Whale Cottage PortfolioLast night Leandri van der Wat was the star of episode 23, highly praised by Chef Prue Leith, an icon of South African cooking and a Michelin star and multi-award winning chef in the United Kingdom.

Having returned to the MasterChef SA kitchen at Nederburg after three episodes were based in Ethiopia and one in Johannesburg, the six Finalists were invited to join ‘culinary royalty‘ and ‘living legend’ Prue Leith and the three judges Benny Masekwameng, Pete Goffe-Wood, and Andrew Atkinson to enjoy a South African ‘tee en koek’, which included melktert, koeksisters, and vetkoek with mince.  Chef Prue was introduced as having two cooking academies, one of them being the Prue Leith Academy MasterChef 2 23 Prue Leith Whale Cottage Portfolioin Pretoria; a catering company; a Michelin star restaurant; cooking shows on television; cookbook writer, of which one is a ‘cookery bible‘;  and recipient of the Member and later Commander of the Order of the British Empire. She was born and bred in South Africa, but has lived in the UK for over 60 years. She said that she serves on the Board of Safeway, Whitbread, and the Orient Express hotel group (which owns the Mount Continue reading →