Tag Archives: Sipho Mdlankomo

MasterChef SA Season 3 episode 14: five hundred’s Chef David Higgs a highlight; Abigail Mbalo smoked out!

MasterChef 3 14 Final 6Last night the MasterChef SA Season 3 Top 6 finalists returned from Mauritius to a treat in Johannesburg, being lunch at South Africa’s number 2 Eat Out Top 10 restaurant five hundred, at the Saxon Boutique Hotel, a restaurant on my bucket list!  Returning to the MasterChef SA kitchen at Nederburg, the finalists had to replicate each of Chef David Higg’s dishes, Abigail Mbalo leaving the MasterChef SA kitchen, having forgotten to plate some of the elements.

For the second time in a few weeks episode 14 started more than 10 minutes late, without warning or apology by M-Net, not even on Social Media.   We saw the Top 6 Finalists arrive at five hundred, and they were seated at the Chef’s Table.  A screenMasterChef 3 14 five hundred opened to the kitchen, and Chef David welcomed the Finalists, saying that they would be served a 6-course lunch to congratulate them on getting so far in the competition.  The dishes presented would be those that have been the highlight of the five hundred menu in the past 18 months.  He mentioned their rooftop garden, which was planted in the same time period.  Chef David also said that they do things differently at five hundred, the chefs serving the diners.

Nederburg wines were to be paired with each course, but we only saw the sommelier pair the first course of pressed prawns with broccoli coral, mayonnaise, and nori soil, with Nederburg The Anchorman Continue reading →

MasterChef SA Season 3, episode 12: Spicy sunshine cuisine in Mauritius, judged by MasterChef UK 2012 winner!

MasterChef 3 12 Contestants in aprons on beach It was lovely to escape to Mauritius with the Top 7 Finalists of Season 3 in episode 12 last night, and one could almost smell the mix of African, Chinese, Indian, and French spices which characterises Mauritian cooking.  Sparkling spicy Mauritian MasterChef UK 2012 winner Shelina Permalloo was the visiting judge, and broke the monotonous three-male-judges team we have experienced for all three seasons of MasterChef SA!

Shelina took the seven finalists to the fruit and vegetable market in Mauritius capital Port Louis.  She spoke to them about the food heritage of the country, and how it inspired her cooking and success. Many of the fruit and vegetable items stocked in the market were unfamiliar to our South African Continue reading →

MasterChef SA Season 3 episode 11: Ian Young wins Immunity Pin at Pot Luck Club, Francois Zietsman puréed out in Elimination Test!

Masterchef 3 11 Immunity Pin, Whale CottageThe eleventh episode of MasterChef SA Season 3 was a close contest between Ian Young and Sipho Mdlankomo for the Immunity Pin, and between Penny Fitchet and Francois Zietsman in the Elimination Test.  The episode ended off on a high for the seven remaining contestants.

Having won the paired Team Challenge last week, Ian and Sipho had been promised a surprise, and we recognised the Old Biscuit Mill, and the building in which The Pot Luck Club is housed.  Chef Luke Dale-Roberts was introduced, and a video link showed him speaking to the camera, being at least a year old in that it was incorrect about when The Test Kitchen and The Pot Luck Club had opened.  Chef Luke’s The Test Kitchen is in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, but this was misrepresented by M-Net, as the contestants were at The Pot Luck Club, which is not on the World’s 50 Best Restaurant list, MasterChef 3 11 Luke Dale-Roberts Whale Cottagebut was made to appear as if it is!  Instead of being served a lunch by Chef Luke, the two contestants were presented with a cloche by Reuben Robertsons Riffel, which when opened, contained an Immunity Pin. Sipho and Ian had to cook a dish created by Chef Luke, and the one replicating it most closely would win the Pin. The two contestants were given a recipe for Chef Luke’s braised pork belly served with apple, a miso and soy glaze, julienne vegetables, and a steamed Chinese bun, and they tasted a sample dish.  They were given 90 minutes to complete the dish, cooking in the kitchen of The Pot Luck Club. It was a delight to see Chef Luke smile, Continue reading →

MasterChef SA Season 3 episode 10: Sommeliers judge Tapas and Nederburg 56Hundred pairings!

MasterChef 3 10 four teamsIn MasterChef SA episode 10 last night five top South African sommeliers were invited to evaluate the pairing of two Tapas dishes of each of four teams with two Nederburg wines.  The Red Team won the challenge, winning a Secret Reward (it looks like it could be lunch at The Pot Luck Club), while the Blue Team had the lowest score, and will go into an Elimination Test in episode 11.

In winning the best chicken dish with her Coq au Vin in episode 9 last week, Penny Fitchet was honoured with the pairing of the eight finalists.  She paired herself with Francois Zietsman and decided on Blue aprons.  Philippa Robinson and Roxi Wardman were paired in the Yellow Team; Abigail Mbalo and Mel Sutherland were paired in the Green Team; and Ian Young and Sipho Mdlankomo were Nederbrug 56Hundred MasterChefpaired into the Red Team.  Each team had 60 minutes to prepare each of two Tapas dishes, to be paired with Nederburg 56Hundred Chenin Blanc for the first dish, and Nederburg 56Hundred Cabernet Sauvignon for the second dish.  We had learnt in a previous Season of MasterChef that the 56Hundred range was named after the price of 5600 guilders which was paid by Philippus Wolvaart to buy the farm which he named Nederburg.  Invited Sommeliers were Neil Grant, chairman of the South African Continue reading →