{"id":45768,"date":"2013-07-18T00:07:07","date_gmt":"2013-07-17T22:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=45768"},"modified":"2013-07-19T17:49:50","modified_gmt":"2013-07-19T15:49:50","slug":"masterchef-sa-season-2-episode-12-cape-town-food-focus-karen-els-creams-it-tearful-sanet-labuschange-pops-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/masterchef-sa-season-2-episode-12-cape-town-food-focus-karen-els-creams-it-tearful-sanet-labuschange-pops-out\/","title":{"rendered":"MasterChef SA Season 2 episode 12: Cape Town food focus, Karen Els creams it, tearful Sanet Labuschange pops out!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MasterChef<\/a>Last night’s episode 12 kept viewers glued to the screen, as Finalists Sanet Labuschagne, Tiron Eloff, and Jason Steel had to replicate La Mouette Chef Henry Vigar’s dish. Karen Els enjoyed her special MasterClass at The Creamery.<\/p>\n

Chef Henry Vigar of La Mouette was the ‘top Cape Town chef<\/em>‘ viewers were told would be present in the episode, and whose dish they had to replicate. \u00a0When Chef Pete Goffe-Wood introduced the chef as being a good friend, that it is his favourite restaurant, and that the chef is from the UK and has a South African wife, and has worked at top UK restaurants, we could not help but think that it was Chef Luke Dale-Roberts from The Test Kitchen and the Pot Luck Club, as the description could have equally applied to him. \u00a0As \"MasterChef<\/a>Chef Henry has not made the Eat Out<\/strong> Top 20 list since he opened in Cape Town three years ago, it was a surprise that M-Net<\/strong>\u00a0overstated his standing, as he is very low key on the Cape Town restaurant scene. \u00a0Kamini Pather said that the restaurant is best known for its six course tasting menu. \u00a0La Mouette was a favourite<\/strong><\/span><\/a> of ours when it opened, but we have not been for a long time, due to poor service, even from the owners. Chef Henry’s dish was Salt and pepper prawns, chorizo popcorn, tamarind sauce, and shaved radish on sweetcorn pur\u00e9e. The task was to replicate Chef Henry’s dish exactly and to make four exact portions of it.<\/p>\n

The three \"MasterChef<\/a>Finalists had different approaches to preparing the dish in the 60 minutes allocated, but Chef Henry told the judges that the pur\u00e9e should be prepared first, and that they should remember to switch on the fryers for the prawns.\u00a0Sanet started by reading her menu thoroughly, and her fellow Finalists feared for her dish in that she was spending too much time on the menu. \u00a0She made her popcorn first, and did not switch the fryer on immediately, a weakness as it requires time to heat up. Sanet expressed fear of the ‘fancy machine’\u00a0<\/em>blender, one she had never used before. \u00a0She did not dip the calamari into milk before coating it in flour and placing it into the fryer, and her friend Herman Cloete expressed his concern that she had spent too much time on the pur\u00e9e, and that she had not peeled the prawns. \u00a0She forgot the tamarind sauce on the stove, and it burnt, so that she had to make it again. In her panic her bowl of popcorn fell onto the floor. She was two prawns short, and had to cut two into half to stretch them over the four plates. \u00a0Sanet’s tears ran freely throughout the episode, and she said that she was not feeling very positive when she had completed her dish, not remembering exactly how Chef Henry’s dish was plated. \u00a0She completed the dish just in time, despite Chef Henry’s reservations about her timing. \u00a0Facing the judges, she cried again, asking herself if she belongs at MasterChef SA, as she had been disorganised, the time having run away. \u00a0 Chef Henry picked up that she had not dipped the prawns in milk, \u00a0as there was no crumbing, and that she had done ‘free hand plating<\/em>‘. She had plated too much pur\u00e9e, her prawns lacked crunch, the pur\u00e9e lacked seasoning, \u00a0and the tamarind sauce was not evident to the judges.<\/p>\n

Tiron was said by Chefs Andrew Atkinson and Henry to have an untidy work station, being ‘organised chaos’<\/em>. Tiron said he wanted to be more precise and structured. \u00a0His focus was to get his dish as close to that of Chef Henry’s, not being allowed to add his own personal plating touch. \u00a0It was his first Pressure Test to date. \u00a0He told the judges that he was proud to get his dish so close to that of Chef Henry. Chef Henry said that the plating was one dimensional, but all four his plates looked similar to his. Chef Pete praised the balance and the good taste, saying that he could eat more of it. Chef Andrew was critical that there was too little pur\u00e9e and sauce on the plate to lift the dish.<\/p>\n

Jason did the sweetcorn pur\u00e9e first, and said that he was relatively confident, focusing on balance of taste and presentation. \u00a0He wanted to allow ten minutes for the plating alone. \u00a0He was late in frying the prawns, thinking that they had been cleaned, as the pack said that they were ‘ready to go’<\/em>. \u00a0Chef Henry said his dish looked nice, but that he forgot to cut the prawns in half, which Chef Pete said would be unforgivable in a restaurant, as it would affect the costing. His dish was praised for being very good, for having balance, that all the elements were there, was well seasoned, and the best praise of all came from Chef Andrew, who said it tasted as if Chef Henry had made it himself, the great taste having been replicated!<\/p>\n

\"MasterChef<\/a>Karen drove to The Creamery<\/strong> <\/a>in Salt River, where the owner Kate Schrire demonstrated the \"MasterChef<\/a>making of a beautiful looking naartjie and chocolate chip ice cream, making it look very easy. Karen said that Kate’s passion for ice cream is clear to see, and she was grateful to have won the MasterClass for her best dish made in Tuesday’s episode 11.<\/span><\/strong><\/a> \u00a0 Good news is that The Creamery Caf\u00e9<\/span> <\/strong><\/a>is to open in Newlands next month.<\/p>\n

Cape Town was the centre of attraction on MasterChef SA last night, in featuring La Mouette from Sea Point as well as The Creamery, an artisanal ice cream maker which has been growing by leaps and bounds, with a stand at the V&A Market on the Wharf<\/strong> <\/span><\/a>in the V&A Waterfront, and sells at markets such as the Neighbourgoods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill. \u00a0 \u00a0Chef Benny Masekwameng reminded the twelve remaining Finalists to stop playing it safe, and that the judges want to see magic. \u00a0Chef Henry congratulated the Pressure Test contestants on the quality of the dishes prepared, which had not been an easy one, he said. \u00a0 \"MasterChef<\/a>Sanet was announced as being the Finalist to go home, and she burst into tears, saying that she was devastated, but that she was proud of her journey, and said confidently that ‘you have not seen the last of me<\/em>‘. Chef Andrew said that she done well, that she had done some great dishes, and he wished her well on her future ventures. She said that being on MasterChef SA had changed her life, and was magic.<\/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>\u00a0\u00a0episode 7<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0episode 8<\/a>,\u00a0episode 9<\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0episode 10<\/a>, <\/strong>and episode 11<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>read here. \u00a0Enter our competitions, to predict the\u00a0Finalist who will be\u00a0eliminated in the next Pressure Test<\/strong><\/a>, and which\u00a0Finalist will win MasterChef SA Season 2<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

MasterChef SA\u00a0<\/strong>Season 2. \u00a0 Tuesdays and Wednesdays 19h30 \u2013 20h30. \u00a0\u00a0www.masterchefsa.dstv.co<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0Twitter: @MasterChef_SA.<\/p>\n

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

Last night’s episode 12 kept viewers glued to the screen, as Finalists Sanet Labuschagne, Tiron Eloff, and Jason Steel had to replicate La Mouette Chef Henry Vigar’s dish. Karen Els enjoyed her special MasterClass at The Creamery. Chef Henry Vigar of La Mouette was the ‘top Cape Town chef‘ viewers were told would be present […]<\/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":[3,124,587,14539,20,21],"tags":[15182,13582,15291,32366,32378,3411,4633,19488,19487,19367,19384,14444,4630,555,1406,32404,7148,5970,5954,1458,14137,15467,252,19484,18083,14442,19846,7518,19333,17827,32393,19849],"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