Tag Archives: Ozzy Osmond

Fun foodie day in Cape Town with MasterChef Finalist Seline van der Wat!

Seline van der Wat 4 and 20 Cafe Whale Cottage PortfolioIt was on Twitter that I saw Seline van der Wat, MasterChef SA Season 2 Finalist, request suggestions for food destinations in Cape Town.  I had so enjoyed her spunk on MasterChef SA that I invited her to join me in sharing my Foodie Cape Town yesterday.

We met at Melissa’s on Kloof Street, where I had my favourite iced coffee for the day, and Seline gave me some feedback about where she had been in Cape Town relative to my list of favourite food destinations.   The Neighbourgoods Market at the Biscuit Mill and Frankie Fenner Meat Merchants were the only two food stops she had been to already.

We talked about MasterChef SA Season 2, and she wore the wooden rabbit brooch which she had worn throughout the show.  She wears it every day, and her sister and fellow MasterChef SA Finalist Leandri was given an identical one as a gift.  One senses that they are very close, Seline being slightly older, and having an older sister who recently made them aunts, as well as a younger sister who is still at school.  She lives in Pretoria, and has resigned her job as an engineer working on renewable energy via Hydropower.  From a rigid day job she would escape to the kitchen to express her creativity via cooking, she and Leandri sharing an apartment. Seline could not stop raving about Chef Chris Erasmus at Pierneef à La Motte, loving his passion for food, and his sense of community.  She plays the piano, guitar, and cello.  They grew up in Mafikeng, and lost their mother about ten years ago, necessitating them to cook for the family of four daughters and their dad.  Having such famous daughters has made their dad a celebrity in their home town, and he has met many more of the locals since his daughters were on TV.  He himself now hosts Moroccan dinner parties, while the youngest sister is starting to learn to cook and bake as well.  Seline said that she and Leandri did not watch soaps on TV Continue reading →

MasterChef SA Season 2 episode 22: Finalists duck criticism in Chinatown, Deena Naidoo back on the box!

MasterChef 2 22 Chinatown Whale Cottage PortfolioLast night’s episode 22 of MasterChef SA was a tough one, the Finalists being criticised by both the guests who were invited to evaluate the cooking, and by Chef Pete Goffe-Wood.  A surprise was seeing Chef Deena Naidoo, Season 1 winner of MasterChef SA,  back on the screen again!

Having returned from Ethiopia, the six Finalists and the judges made a stop in Johannesburg, at the new Chinatown in Cyrildene.  The first Chinese came to our country during the gold rush in the 1800’s.  Executive Chef Chang an Song from Tsogo Sun, one of the best Asian chefs in the country, Chef Benny Masekwameng said, demonstrated Peking Duck, Continue reading →

MasterChef SA Season 2 episode 18: Chef Jackie Cameron wins cook-off against Tiron Eloff, Joani Mitchell spiced out by Bobotie!

MasterChef 2 18 Tiron and Jackie Whale Cottage PortfolioThe dishes prepared in last night’s episode 18 of MasterChef SA were extreme opposites, from international fine dining cuisine to a hearty local family dish.  No Immunity Pin was won, and likable Joani Mitchell was sent home.

The show started with the cooking duel between Tiron Eloff and Chef Jackie Cameron from Hartford House in the Natal Midlands, which Tiron had won in making the best Coconut dish in Tuesday’s episode 17.    The restaurant is an Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant regular, and Chef Jackie is beautiful, warm, and friendly, and it was a pleasure to meet her at the Eat Out gala dinner in November, sitting at the table with her and her Hartford House colleagues.  Chef Jackie was filmed at the hotel, and she showed off MasterChef 2 18 Jackie Cameron Whale Cottage Portfolioher vegetable garden, supporting locally sourced produce, and her policy is to not overcomplicate dishes.  For the cook-off she had made a Guineafowl dish with coq au vin gnocchi, roasted garlic, garden pea purée, seared mushrooms, oven-crisped Parma ham, and pecerino shavings. For the honour of participating in the cook-off, Tiron was allowed to wear a MasterChef SA jacket with his name on it, and he said that he could get used to wearing it.  He looked very Continue reading →

MasterChef SA Season 2 episode 15: Blue Team cooks Red Team under the Table (Mountain)!

MasterChef 2 15 Table Mountain Olympic chefs Whale Cottage PorfolioWhat a beautiful setting the Company’s Garden and backdrop Table Mountain was to last night’s episode 15 of MasterChef SA, fantastic marketing of Cape Town to the rest of the country’s TV viewers!   The Red and Blue Teams had to prepare a dish reflecting our country’s cultural food heritage, and the scoring was pretty close, or so the viewers thought!

Having won the Best Dairy Dish Challenge in episode 13, Kamini Pather was allowed to choose her team of five for the next challenge, as well as the apron colour,  when the box of aprons was delivered to the Finalists’ house. She chose the colour blue, and the two van der Wat sisters Seline and Leandri, Ozzy Osmond and Jason Steel for her team.  Amanda Beck and Karen Els appeared to be in charge of the Red Team, which consisted of Khumo Twala, Joani Mitchell, and Tiron Eloff too.   The team challenge was to make a dish that would reflect the origin of our country’s culinary heritage dating back to 1652, when Jan van Riebeeck planted the Company’s Garden to serve as a halfway house trading station of fresh foods for ships of the Dutch East India Company travelling between Holland and the Far East.  The South African Culinary Olympic Team, which participated in the Culinary Olympics 2012 in Germany, and returned with 12 medals for our country, was invited as judges.  We recognised Chef Tanja Kruger Continue reading →