Tag Archives: Top 5

MasterChef SA Season 3 episode 15: Top Five Foraging, Mel Sutherland ‘muscled’ out!

MasterChef 3 15 Top 5 ForagingMasterChef Season 3 is slowly coming to an end, with only three more episodes to go.  Last night it was clearly winter when episode 15 was shot in the Cape forests, the focus being foraging.  It also meant the end for Mel Sutherland, who was sent home due to an unsatisfactory ‘muscle (sic) ceviche with wild garlic panna cotta and squid ink jelly‘!

On arrival at the MasterChef SA Top 5 were told that they would have to find their own ingredients in nature. Chef Pete Goffe-Wood told them: ‘The first part of this challenge you have to find your own ingredients. And you’re going to do it in the way we’ve been doing it for thousands of years – you’re going to go foraging’.   The Top 5 were to go out into nature to gather Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 24 June

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*  Ticket sales for Opulent Living’s black-tie event ‘Chefs who Share’ 2014, to be held on 11 September in the City Hall, open from tomorrow.  A total of 14 local chefs, 7 international chefs, and 7 local sommeliers will be in attendance.  Tickets cost R3000, and the proceeds go to the MADD Charity and to Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. (received via media release from Opulent Living).

*   SA National Parks (SANParks) is to invest R50 million in enhancing the tourism infrastructure of Table Mountain National Park, including Cape Point (receiving 860000 visitors per year) and Boulders’ Beach (receiving 680000 visitors every year), making them important tourism assets for Cape Town.  The announcement comes as the Park celebrates its 16th anniversary.  Improved roads and services can be expected at Cape Point.

*   The latest Reserve Bank’s Quarterly Bulletin reflects household consumption growing at a mere 1,8%, the slowest growth rate since the global economic crisis commenced in 2009.  Growth in food and drink expenditure in particular declined for the first time in the past five years.

*  Namaqua  wines, one of the Top 5 South African wine brands distributed in the UK by Raisin 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 →