{"id":45455,"date":"2013-07-11T01:56:50","date_gmt":"2013-07-10T23:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=45455"},"modified":"2013-07-19T12:12:17","modified_gmt":"2013-07-19T10:12:17","slug":"masterchef-season-2-episode-10-spicy-test-blatant-branding-beulah-bashing-sassi-slating-fishy-end-to-neil-lowe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/franschhoek\/masterchef-season-2-episode-10-spicy-test-blatant-branding-beulah-bashing-sassi-slating-fishy-end-to-neil-lowe\/","title":{"rendered":"MasterChef SA Season 2 episode 10: Spicy Test, Blatant Branding, Beulah Bashing, SASSI Slating, fishy end to Neil Lowe!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MasterChef<\/a>What a diverse and controversial episode 10 was last night, generating many emotions at different levels, as well as criticism of M-Net and MasterChef SA on Twitter for the first time since the commencement of Season 2. \u00a0There was little that was judged to be favourable in the episode:<\/p>\n

‘Spice’ Test<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The losing Red Team (Joani Mitchell, Karen Els, Khumo Twala, Jason Steel, Leandri van der Wat, and Neil Lowe) from Tuesday evening had to go into the ‘Spice’ Test when they lost the Pizza Challenge<\/strong><\/span><\/a> by two points. \u00a0Robertsons ‘Spices’ were the focus point of the Test, annoying viewers for such strong blatant branding of the sponsors’ products, in addition to being subjected to so many TV commercials, especially relative to Season 1. \u00a0\"MasterChef<\/a>The criticism was two-fold:<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 Herbs and spices are two different things, yet the contestants had to guess which combination of Robertsons ‘spices’<\/em> had been used in a number of dishes they could smell and taste (the company advertises spice and herb combinations), according to the judges’ brief, yet they had both herbs and spices to evaluate, including in a tomato dish, and in caramelised butternut. \u00a0Chef Andrew Atkinson said that one’s tastebuds must be attuned to seasoning, so that\"MasterChef<\/a> one can change or enhance a dish’s flavour profile.<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 No serious chefs would use Robertsons spices in their kitchens (except Chef Reuben Riffel<\/span><\/strong><\/a> of course, who endorses the brand and appears in its advertisements!), as ‘fresh is best’, the trend in restaurant and home cooking!<\/p>\n

Pig-headed at Pierneef\u00a0\u00e0 La Motte<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Pizza Challenge winning Blue Team was driven to Pierneef\u00a0\u00e0 La Motte<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>in Franschhoek, to attend a \"MasterChef<\/a>MasterClass with Chef Chris Erasmus, which he conducted in his open-plan kitchen. \u00a0Chef Chris said that his focus is ‘from garden to plate’<\/em>, and that he is grateful to have grown up in the Karoo, having learnt how to ‘butcher’<\/em>\u00a0from his father and how to preserve \u00a0foods from his mother. \u00a0 Chef Chris showed the Finalists his salad made from freshly foraged herbs and vegetables from the impressive La Motte vegetable garden<\/strong><\/span><\/a>. \u00a0He then proceeded to demonstrate the making of a terrine, using the full pig’s head of Beulah, as he called her. \u00a0M-Net must have expected criticism, and ran a subtitled warning in the episode that it ‘might offend sensitive viewers<\/em>‘! \u00a0 Chef Chris used sweet wine in cooking carrots with vinegar. \u00a0Seline van der Wat enjoyed her visit so much that Chef Chris was elevated to her new favourite chef. It was the first time ever on MasterChef SA that a viewer could make a dish just by watching it, Chef Chris’ instructions on how to make the terrine being easy to follow. \u00a0 This part of the episode was love or hate for the restaurant, the criticism being as follows:<\/p>\n

* \u00a0\"MasterChef<\/a> The whole \u00a0pig’s head was seen to be unappetizing and off-putting, and some Tweeters wrote that they would never go to the restaurant as a result. \u00a0Others wrote that those that want to become chefs must deal with seeing all parts of an animal, as ‘Top to Tail’ is a sustainable food preparation trend. \u00a0Many were impressed with Chef Chris and the restaurant.<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 Even worse was the timing of last night’s episode, just as Ramadan has started, despite it having been filmed at the end of January, given that Finalist Ozzy Osman is Moslem, and was part of the Blue team attending the MasterClass. He and a few others went green at the gills. \u00a0Added to that was Chef Chris cooking with wine, a no-no combination for Ozzy, it was felt!<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 Even though the viewers did not see the La Motte vegetable and herb garden, the Blue Team \"MasterChef<\/a>was shown the garden, according to Seline’s Tweet last night. \u00a0This of course was a further irony of the episode last night, in that it demonstrated the use of fresh herbs and vegetables, as opposed to the focus on Robertsons spices earlier in the episode!<\/p>\n

Fishy end<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Karen, Neil, and Jason were the bottom three of the team of seven in the ‘Spice’ Test, and had to go into the Pressure Test. \u00a0Their challenge was to replicate Chef Pete Goffe-Wood’s white stumpnose on fennel and saffron risotto, served with a Nicoise salad and dressing, which includes anchovies, capers, tomato, olive oil, garlic, red wine vinegar, and fennel. \u00a0Karen gave it her all, feeling comfortable in cooking fish, and she filleted it perfectly to cheers from her Finalist colleagues watching from above. Chef Pete gave her support during the preparation, praising the quality of her food to date. \u00a0Jason had never prepared risotto, \"MasterChef<\/a>and was nervous about making it. \u00a0He is known as the ‘Fish Guy’<\/em>, so that part of the challenge was easy, including the filleting. \u00a0Neil said that he had only made risotto once before, and that it ‘was bad<\/em>‘! \u00a0 He had mixed feelings about his dish, saying it lacked presentation finesse, and said that he did not want to go home already. \u00a0But the judges thought otherwise, and Neil was eliminated, his risotto portion being too big, \u00a0it did not have depth, it was dull, and it was not seasoned (ironic, just after they had come out of the ‘Spice’ \u00a0Test!). Neil said he was ‘gutted’<\/em> to be leaving, and added that MasterChef SA ‘ is emotionally intense but exhilirating’<\/em>! \u00a0Controversial was the following:<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 \u00a0That Neil Lowe had to go home. \u00a0While the decision was not felt to be unfair, Neil was an \"MasterChef<\/a>interesting character, coming across as somewhat arrogant initially, quoting Modernist Cuisine while he did the Hot Audition, which could have been a switch off to the judges. \u00a0It soon became clear that Neil rates his cooking skills (as do some bloggers who praised his skills on Twitter last night), but that he was unable to make fundamental dishes such as the risotto and hollandaise sauce, which had driven him into a previous Pressure Test. \u00a0Many viewers would have liked to see more of him in the show.<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 Horror of horrors is that White Stumpnose appears on SASSI’s (South African Sustainable Seafood Initiative)<\/strong><\/span><\/a> Orange list, not ideal, as only Green fish should be used. \u00a0Even more ironic is that Chef Pete often works with SASSI to promote the use of Green fish varieties. \u00a0Even worse is that SASSI and the use of sustainable seafood, a big drive of MasterChef SA \u00a0sponsor Woolworths,<\/span><\/strong><\/a> was not even mentioned nor did Woolworths advertise its focus on this, as it did in Season 1 during the Paternoster Seafood episode<\/strong><\/span>.<\/a><\/p>\n

A number of Tweeters felt that the Pressure Test was \u00a0a relatively easy one last night. \u00a0It will be interesting to see where MasterChef SA Season 2 will go in the next 8 weeks, pasta appearing to be on the menu next Tuesday.<\/p>\n

For an overview of what is lying ahead for the rest of Season 2\u00a0read here.<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0For behind the scenes information on the filming of Season 2 in January\u00a0read here<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0For an overview of episode 1 of Season 2\u00a0read here.<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0For an overview of episode 2 of Season 2\u00a0read here<\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a0for episode 3\u00a0read here<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>for\u00a0episode 4\u00a0<\/a><\/strong>here, episode 5\u00a0here,<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0 episode\u00a06 here<\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a0episode 7<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>,\u00a0episode 8\u00a0here<\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a0and episode 9 here<\/span><\/strong><\/a>. \u00a0Enter our competitions, to predict the Finalist who will be\u00a0eliminated in the next Pressure Test<\/strong><\/a>, and which\u00a0Finalist will win MasterChef SA Season 2<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 11\/7:<\/strong> One senses Neil Lowe’s disdain that he was caught short in the Spice Test, and that he would NEVER have Robertsons or any other bottled spices in his kitchen, in this exit interview<\/strong><\/span><\/a> with N-Net!<\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 14\/7<\/strong>: \u00a0M-Net must have anticipated the criticism about the use of a pig’s head in the making of a terrine (it was a five hour MasterClass Chef Chris Erasmus of Pierneef\u00a0\u00e0 La Motte told us last night, and he cannot believe the number of Social Media hits he has received as a result of the episode), and has issued media statements, the first to emphasise that Finalist Ozzy Osmond, has only been given Halaal meat to cook<\/strong><\/span><\/a> with in the MasterChef kitchen, and has not had to use alcohol in the cooking challenges, out of respect for his Muslim religion. \u00a0The second media statement addresses the Pierneef\u00a0\u00e0 La Motte MasterClass using pork, and it confirms that Ozzy was served a halaal dish for lunch<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 19\/7<\/strong>: Yesterday The Times<\/strong><\/span><\/a> ran a story critical of M-Net<\/strong> not providing Ozzy Osman with halaal meat when he used tongue in his dish for episode 11 of \u00a0MasterChef on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 19\/7:<\/strong> \u00a0MasterChef Australia<\/strong><\/span><\/a> is battling with the same issue, in that a Muslim Finalist had to cook a pork dish!<\/p>\n

MasterChef SA\u00a0<\/strong>Season 2. Tuesdays and Wednesdays 19h30 \u2013 20h30. \u00a0www.masterchefsa.dstv.co<\/a>\u00a0 Twitter: @MasterChef_SA. \u00a0Some photographs from the MasterChef SA website.<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio:\u00a0www.whalecottage.com<\/a>\u00a0Twitter: @WhaleCottage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What a diverse and controversial episode 10 was last night, generating many emotions at different levels, as well as criticism of M-Net and MasterChef SA on Twitter for the first time since the commencement of Season 2. \u00a0There was little that was judged to be favourable in the episode: ‘Spice’ Test The losing Red Team […]<\/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":[124,587,14,14539,20,21],"tags":[11269,15182,19762,3638,2552,32378,19761,19765,19462,32369,1633,4447,19766,19487,19474,19384,3401,19332,1540,19470,1406,32404,7148,1630,19375,19469,4932,1458,6611,19764,1347,10151,7531,18083,19374,8755,19760,4446,4614,7527,19763,12041,32373,171],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\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