Tag Archives: Pantry

MasterChef SA Season 3 episode 5: Carrots, carrots everywhere for dessert Invention Test!

September 19, 2014

Episode 5 of MasterChef SA was long and drawn-out, featuring nine desserts made from a surprise ingredient – a Pantry overflowing with carrots, carrot juice, and carrot powder. Three new contestants will go into the Pressure Test in episode 6 next week, Ndumiso Mncwabe clearly heading for an early exit as he is facing his second Pressure Test.

The episode commenced with a recap of episode 4, Roxi Wardman sharing her euphoria about having visited and eaten at Chef Kevin Thornton’s 2 star Michelin Thornton’s restaurant in Dublin, for having won the best dish in episode 3. She described it as a ‘mind blowing, life changing’ experience. Philippa Robinson shared that Roxi’s success and her new confidence from her trip makes her feel intimidated, as she is one of the strongest contestants.

Reuben Robertsons Riffel led the contestants to the Pantry, and they were surprised to see the mountain of carrots, in red, orange, and purple, from which they had to make a dessert, with the carrot the focus, said Chef Benny Masekwameng. Riffel said that a carrot dessert is not as crazy as it seems, and challenged the contestants to apply their mind. A time limit of 90 minutes was set, but the Pantry was closed 15 minutes after the start. Once again the contestants were told that the three weakest dishes will place their creators into the Pressure Test, one of them going home in episode 6. While there are eleven contestants left, only nine of them were interviewed and the evaluation of their dishes shown, Francois Zietsman and Mel Sutherland receiving no airtime last night. Continue reading →

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

August 29, 2013

Last 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 17: Judges nuts about most coconut dishes, Tiron Eloff Coconut King!

August 7, 2013

An unusual Taste Test, which sounded easier than it was, was the start to episode 17 of MasterChef SA last night, when the nine Finalists were each given a bowl of fruit and some juices to taste and identify. This led to a Challenge using a fruit, with a winner of the Challenge potentially winning an Immunity Pin, and three Finalists going into the Elimination Test tonight.

We have seen Taste Tests on MasterChef SA before, but never with the Finalists blindfolded. Once they had identified the fruits on the basis of taste, smell, and touch, they had to hold up the whole fruit from the bowl for the judges to see. An avocado, plum, strawberry juice, grape juice, and red currant were the correct fruits tasted. Ozzie Osman won the taste test, being the last remaining Finalist, having correctly identified all five fruits. The prize was that he was allowed to choose one of three fruits as the core ingredient for the Invention Test, going into the Pantry with Chef Benny Masekwameng to choose between coconuts (whole, desiccated, milk, cream), peaches (fresh, dried, preserved), and figs (dried, fresh, preserved). He chose coconuts, saying they are part of his culture. The winner of the Invention Test would go into a cook-off against one of South Africa’s top chefs and should he/she win, an Immunity Pin would be won which would offer immunity Continue reading →

MasterChef SA Season 2 episode 16: ‘Quirky’ cooking, Mucking Afazing Charly’s Bakery, Khumo Twala flaps out!

August 1, 2013

The Pressure Test that five Red Team MasterChef SA Finalists, who lost the cook out in the Company’s Gardens in Cape Town yesterday, had to go through seemed less stressful and more fun than some of the others the Finalists have been through, in that they could let their creativity shine through. The winning Blue Team loved their visit to Charly’s Bakery in Cape Town.

The visiting Chef and ‘Bread and Butter’ column food writer for The Times was Andrea Burgener of The Leopard (no website for her restaurant, it appears) in Melville in Johannesburg, Chef Pete Goffe-Wood calling her the ‘Queen of Creative Cuisine’, well known for her creative cooking, eclectic and playful dishes created by experimentation, and tasty food. She presented three of her dishes, to give the Finalists an idea of what her restaurant serves, each dish having a twist on something well known, being ‘far removed from their origins’, she said. So, for example the steak tartare was presented on a Moroccan theme, and there was a ‘Korean spagbol‘, and a Gazpacho made with raw ginger. Textures are important, it was said, and Chef Andrea’s flavours ‘jump out‘. Chef Andrew Atkinson provided the brief for the Pressure Test: the Finalists had to create a dish of their own creation within 60 minutes, thinking out of the box, to be good enough to feature on Chef Andrea’s menu at Continue reading →