{"id":32585,"date":"2012-05-16T09:20:12","date_gmt":"2012-05-16T07:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=32585"},"modified":"2012-05-22T23:27:10","modified_gmt":"2012-05-22T21:27:10","slug":"masterchef-sa-episode-9-around-the-world-11-ways-twice-baked-3-cheese-souffle-falls-flat-for-guy-clark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/wine-news\/masterchef-sa-episode-9-around-the-world-11-ways-twice-baked-3-cheese-souffle-falls-flat-for-guy-clark\/","title":{"rendered":"MasterChef SA episode 9: Around the world 11 ways, Twice Baked 3 Cheese Souffl\u00e9 falls flat for Guy Clark!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/span>A TV screen at The Grand Cafe and Rooms in Plettenberg Bay that lost its picture just as MasterChef SA started was an exciting start to episode 9 last night, but the problem was quickly fixed when I was moved to another room.\u00a0 The Finalists were sent around the world in the dishes that they had to create, sending four of the eleven Finalists to the \u2018Pressure Test\u2019, and leading to gorgeous Guy Clark<\/a><\/span><\/strong> being eliminated.<\/p>\n

Each Finalist chose a country and with it a method of preparation, having 90 minutes to prepare their dish.\u00a0 Not all Finalists were visible in this episode, and only some of the Finalists were interviewed and their dishes shown.\u00a0 Sarel Loots chose Brazil, and decided to make a chocolate dessert, with custard, and mango, all elements steamed. His dish got raised eyebrows from Chef Benny Masekwameng. He was berated for not making something ‘more MasterChef’<\/em>, to show his technique. The dish was said to be \u2018not good enough\u2019<\/em>. \u00a0Thys Hattingh chose Morocco, and decided to make a pear dessert poached in a Nederburg wine, to criticism of Chef Pete Goffe-Wood, given that Morocco is a Muslim country.\u00a0 With this he prepared a sweet couscous and cinnamon custard. \u00a0He said he has \u2018dessert in his \"\"<\/a>genes\u2019<\/em>, influenced by his mom.\u00a0 He received the highest praise from Chef Pete, saying that it was \u2018visually beautiful\u2019<\/em>, and that he would \u2018pay a lot of money in a top restaurant for that\u2019<\/em>.\u00a0 Chef Bennie liked the custard, calling it a \u2018lovely dish\u2019<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0 Samantha Nolan was proudly South African, and chose to make vetkoek and mince, with a peach chutney.\u00a0 Chef Benny was critical of her spice choice for the mince, which included cardamom, chilli, cumin, ginger, garlic, and tumeric.\u00a0 Her vetkoek was praised by him for its light golden brown colour and for being \u2018perfectly made\u2019<\/em>, but her mince \u2018let you down in having too many spices\u2019<\/em>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Manisha Naidu chose to make an Italian grilled chicken with a basil cream sauce and a Parma ham-wrapped tomato. Her plating was praised, representing \u2018Italy on a plate\u2019<\/em>. \u00a0Guy Clark chose the United Kingdom, and decided to make \u2018pub food\u2019<\/em>, using a beer batter for the fish, and poaching all the elements of the dish, saying it was \u2018worth the risk\u2019<\/em>. Chef Pete said that he could taste the beer in the batter and that the fish was perfectly poached. However the peas were \u2018too mushy\u2019<\/em>, and the mash \u2018lumpy\u2019.<\/em> Lungile Nhlanhla represented China, and had made deep fried tempura vegetables and stirfry, served with crispy duck.\u00a0 Chef Andrew Atkinson said that the flavour was \u2018absolutely fantastic\u2019<\/em>. Jade de Waal made mini bite size hamburgers, with fries and a home-made tomato sauce, adding a guacamole topping after one of the chef judges asked her about it. Chef Pete was very critical of the hamburger bun, saying it was \u2018too dense and chewy\u2019<\/em>, but praised her ketchup, saying it was \u2018superb\u2019<\/em> and \u2018the hero\u2019<\/em> of the dish, but that the hamburger was not. Khaya Silingile wanted to show the versatility of flavour and technique, making a French inspired chicken ballotine with turned vegetables, \u2018with loads of butter\u2019<\/em> in her mash, making Chef Pete smile.\u00a0 When he tasted the dish, Chef Pete said that it was \u2018perfect mash\u2019<\/em>, and Chef Benny said it was a \u2018lovely dish\u2019<\/em>. \u00a0She was praised for its ‘taste of Paris’<\/em>. \u00a0Khaya was so excited that she said that she felt \u2018tres magnifique\u2019<\/em>. \u00a0Deena Naidoo had prepared Asian baked fish with tempura prawns; Sue-Ann Allen a Spanish deconstructed paella with an avocado, corn and red onion salsa; and Ilse Fourie made a Mexican chicken and chilly pocket with guacamole, salsa, \u00a0and a spicy red pepper sauce.<\/span><\/p>\n

The eleven Finalists were praised by Chef Benny, saying that the judges were blown away by their international \"\"<\/a>dishes, and that they should be proud of what they had presented. They announced Khaya as the winner of this challenge, to which she responded in saying that she had reached \u2018culinary heaven\u2019<\/em>, with Thys in second place, happy about the \u2018pat on the back\u2019<\/em> which he had received.\u00a0 Their \u2018prize\u2019 was a Masterclass just for the two of them, by Chef Andrew with assistance from Chef Benny. Chef Andrew taught them to make Tagliatelle pasta, and a Putanesca sauce containing garlic, peppers, tomatoes, and peppers. <\/span><\/p>\n

Samantha, Sarel, Guy, and Jade were sent into the Pressure Test, for their errors in making the international dishes. One of the Finalists would be sent home as a result of it, they were told. It was to be the \u2018toughest and most complicated dish to be prepared so far\u2019<\/em>. They had to recreate Chef Andrew\u2019s dish, being a Twice Baked Three Cheese Souffl\u00e9 with a Waldorf salad, Onion Braise, and a Gruy\u00e8re tuile, in 80 minutes.\u00a0 They were told that a souffl\u00e9 is difficult to make well, Chef Andrew saying that the ingredients, grammage, and oven temperature are crucial to its success.\u00a0 One has to be gentle with a souffl\u00e9, in folding in the egg white. Guy started with the beetroot, then made the souffl\u00e9, the onions, and finished off in making the tuille.\u00a0 He seemed to panic, and his colleagues watching from upstairs encouraged him to start from scratch. Chef Andrew said that Guy was \u2018too heavy handed\u2019<\/em> in making his souffl\u00e9, saying that it needs air when one folds in the egg white.\u00a0 Chef Pete said that Guy had left out the apple and celery from the salad, and that the bacon had not been cooked properly.\u00a0 Chef Benny added that Guy had not followed the recipe properly. Guy commented that one needs science to be a MasterChef, and that he had last had science at school!\u00a0 Jade said that she could not faff around, saying that she would start with the onions, then moving onto the souffl\u00e9, \u2018giving it my all\u2019<\/em>.\u00a0 She got her ramekins in the oven too late, running out of the 20 minutes baking time required.\u00a0 She admitted that she was \u2018not up to scratch\u2019<\/em>, had \u2018gone through the wall\u2019<\/em>, and just had too little time. She served her souffl\u00e9 in the ramekins, to the surprise of the judges, saying that she ran out of time. When he removed it from the ramekin and cut it, Chef Andrew said that it had \u2018not cooked through\u2019<\/em>. Chef Pete was very direct when he told Jade that she is still young, and that she still \u2018has a lot more to learn\u2019<\/em>. Samantha said that a souffl\u00e9 requires \u2018precision work\u2019,<\/em> starting with her onions, putting her beetroot in the oven,\u00a0 and then making the souffl\u00e9, which if one is not gentle with it could become a \u2018flat-fle\u2019<\/em>!\u00a0 She did not make the Gruy\u00e8re tuile, having run out of time.\u00a0 Her souffl\u00e9 was praised for its presentation, looking very similar to that of Chef Andrew, but Chef Pete said that it was not \u2018souffle \u00a0light\u2019<\/em>, and tasted more \u2018cakey\u2019<\/em>.\u00a0 Chef Andrew praised her Waldorf salad, saying that he\u00a0\"\"<\/a>\u2018thoroughly enjoyed it\u2019.<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

Sarel immediately commented that he would have a time problem, in the recipe being three pages long.\u00a0 He said this challenge was a \u2018tough one\u2019<\/em>, and he didn\u2019t make a cheese sauce, as he ran out of time. \u00a0Chef Benny said that the salad was very crispy, but that the walnuts had been ground, and not sliced as in the dish they had to replicate. Chef Andrew said that Sarel must have made many souffl\u00e9s before, saying that his seasoning was right, and that he was happy with Sarel\u2019s interpretation. The judges had observed the four Finalists at work, and commented that they were not starting with the souffl\u00e9, which worried them. All four of them ran out of time, and had to leave out an element of the dish. The four Finalists were praised for tackling the challenge head on. Guy was selected by the judges to leave MasterChef SA, and he was praised for his spirit and effort, and that he had showed glimpses of not giving up. Guy replied that MasterChef SA had given him a \u2018doorway\u2019<\/em> to his dreams. The remaining Top 10 MasterChef SA finalists were congratulated for having made it so far, and were told to \u2018keep believing in yourself\u2019<\/em>.\u00a0 Finalist Deena Naidoo said that they had been simmering up to now, but that they had now reached the \u2018reduction stage\u2019<\/em>. Deena is the only MasterChef SA finalist to not have been in a \u2018pressure test\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

For a second week running, the judges choice for elimination was questioned on Twitter, Jade\u2019s souffl\u00e9 flop having deserved elimination, it was felt. \u00a0It annoyed many Tweeters, and many threatened to no longer watch the show, given its loss of credibility.<\/span><\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 19\/5<\/strong>: Guy Clark’s ‘doorway’<\/em> to his dream to become a chef has come true. \u00a0He has been appointed as a Chef at the Madame Zingara group of restaurants, starting on Monday.<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a> Twitter:@WhaleCottage <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A TV screen at The Grand Cafe and Rooms in Plettenberg Bay that lost its picture just as MasterChef SA started was an exciting start to episode 9 last night, but the problem was quickly fixed when I was moved to another room.\u00a0 The Finalists were sent around the world in the dishes that they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[124,14539,362,21,19],"tags":[15182,15291,32378,15190,9029,15393,15188,15273,15394,15395,303,15397,32404,399,1458,15399,15200,15408,15400,1587,32373],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t