{"id":47032,"date":"2013-08-14T08:44:59","date_gmt":"2013-08-14T06:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=47032"},"modified":"2013-08-14T08:54:06","modified_gmt":"2013-08-14T06:54:06","slug":"masterchef-sa-season-2-episode-19-finalists-roasted-in-coffee-challenge-in-addis-ababa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/restaurant-news\/masterchef-sa-season-2-episode-19-finalists-roasted-in-coffee-challenge-in-addis-ababa\/","title":{"rendered":"MasterChef SA Season 2 episode 19: Finalists roasted in Coffee Challenge in Addis Ababa!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MasterChef<\/a>Despite a long tedious recap of last weeks’s episode 18, last night’s episode 19 of MasterChef SA was exciting and something different, being filmed in Ethiopia, a country in which coffee was first discovered, and it was fitting that the cooking in the episode focused on coffee.<\/p>\n

The eight Finalists were very excited to see suitcases, and visas and passports to Ethiopia in their house, generating big hugs and lots of excitement. \u00a0Sharing some of the tourist attractions of Addis Ababa, the Finalists went inside the Ethiopian Orthodox Church with beautiful interiors. \u00a0Amanda Beck became very emotional in the church, being ‘overwhelmed by its energy<\/em>‘. \"MasterChef<\/a>\u00a0 The quick shot of a busy street would be enough to not make one travel in Ethiopia, the roads looking far more chaoticthan do our roads. \u00a0The Finalists visited a market, and were fascinated in seeing the raw green coffee beans, and the spices. In the evening the Finalists and three judges went \"MasterChef<\/a>for dinner at an Ethiopian Cultural Restaurant, with traditional food and breads, music, and dance. They were told about the typical stews (called ‘wat’<\/em>), redder when the berbere spice mix is added. \u00a0Chef Pete \u00a0Goffe-Wood said that the spices used in preparing the Ethiopian foods and their breads have not changed much over time. The stew is eaten with a type of cr\u00e8pe, called ‘injera’<\/em>, made from teff flour, and one uses one’s right hand to eat the food.<\/p>\n

The Invention Test was preceded by a traditional Ethiopian coffee \"MasterChef<\/a>ceremony in the forest hills 3000 m above sealevel, \u00a0high above Addis Ababa, which was performed by Hannah. \u00a0She spoke English but M-Net<\/strong> used subtitles when she spoke. The ceremony is a mark of respect to one’s guests, and goes through a number of steps, from washing the beans, roasting them, burning incense, and using popcorn too. Ethiopians never add milk to their coffee, and are more likely to add salt rather than sugar.<\/p>\n

In the rustic forest setting, the eight Finalists had a table each, with two sources of heat for cooking, an Induction oven and a traditional coal stove, not as sophisticated as they are used to in the MasterChef SA kitchen. \u00a0 They were given 45 minutes in which to prepare a dish which used as many or as few of the ingredients in the Mystery boxes, which contained coffee beans, Nescaf\u00e9, butternut, lamb loin, chocolate, \"MasterChef<\/a>popcorn, honey, Robertsons spices, and cream cheese, as long as the coffee was included and could be tasted. \u00a0Chef Pete repeated a number of times that the taste of the coffee was a requirement, as the two worst performing dishes would go into the Pressure Test. \u00a0The Top dish would receive a MasterClass with an Ethiopian chef. \u00a0Speaking amongst themselves, the judges discussed what they would have made in such a challenge, and Chef Andrew Atkinson said he would have made squash and chili fritters drizzled with honey, and a coffee crusted lamb loin.<\/p>\n

Amanda<\/span> seemed tearful for most of her cooking, and M-Net used a lot of subtitles when she spoke, as she was not very audible. \u00a0Her coffee broth reduction burnt, and she tried to remake it. Not all her eggs cooked properly, and the one that was perfect slid off her lamb loin stack. \u00a0She told viewers that she feels like she is breaking down. \u00a0Her squash pur\u00e9e was very spicy, not allowing any coffee flavour to come through, the egg yolk was too rich for the dish, and the meat was undercooked, just having been seared and far too rare, Chef Andrew told her. \u00a0Amanda was told in no uncertain terms that she had underperformed. She cried again, saying that the visit to the church the previous day had moved her greatly. \u00a0Karen Els<\/span> was positive, and had the clever idea of making a coffee tiramisu, but changed midway to making a coffee inspired dessert, being a popcorn fritter with a chocolate sauce, and \u00a0chocolate coated coffee beans. \u00a0Chef Andrew liked the nice coffee flavour, and that coffee was in each element of her dish, judging it to be ‘not bad’<\/em>. \u00a0Chef Benny Masekwameng said that the dish had a lovely coffee flavour. She was happy with the outcome. \u00a0Tiron Eloff<\/span> made a coffee cinnamon cr\u00e9pe, with a butternut filling. \u00a0He was praised for making a local cuisine dish. \"MasterChef<\/a>Chef Benny praised the nice and light cr\u00e9pe and the sweet filling. Chef Pete said that he liked it, being creamy, with a good coffee flavour, and that the dish was ‘very good’<\/em>. \u00a0Ozzy Osman<\/span> was nervous, not being a coffee drinker he said, and he made an Ethiopian lamb wat with flatbread, and added coffee to the butternut. \u00a0Chef Andrew said that the wat had a lot of spice, which overpowered the coffee flavour.<\/p>\n

Leandri van der Wat<\/span> was excited about the theme, \u00a0being a ‘<\/span>coffee-holic<\/em>‘, she said. \u00a0She planned to make a coffee smoked soup with squash pur\u00e9e, but it did not turn out as good as promised, as the coffee flavour did not come to the fore, but the idea of the smoked soup using the coffee was ‘<\/span>ingenious’<\/em>, Chef Pete said. \u00a0Chef Benny said it was very tasty, but that the coffee taste was missing. \"MasterChef<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>Jason Steel<\/span> made pan seared lamb marinaded with rosemary, popcorn with cayenne pepper, and a coffee jus which he poured over the dish in front of the judges. \u00a0He was questioned by Chef Benny as to the jus being enough to give the dish a good coffee flavour. \u00a0Chef Pete loved the subtlety in the jus, yet it had rich and coffee\u00a0flavours, praising it for its good execution. \u00a0<\/span>Seline van der Wat<\/span> said that she did not feel well, unusual for her as she always comes across as happy, and she thought that she might be suffering from altitude sickness. \u00a0Chef Andrew encouraged her to focus for the half an hour still needed to prepare the dish, which was lamb loin with popcorn brittle. \u00a0She felt that she had made a mistake in pouring all the caramel over her popcorn, yet the judges approved of her dish. \u00a0Kamini Pather<\/span> added coffee and cumin to each of her three elements, lamb loin, squash, and the popcorn. \u00a0She told Chef Andrew that she had never used coffee in a savoury dish, nor paired it with lamb before. She hoped\"MasterChef<\/a> that the coffee flavours came through. \u00a0Chef Andrew praised her dish, for the lamb being cooked well, liking her cream cheese, the coffee flavour coming through in each of the elements, being balanced, being spot on with the flavours, and said the dish was ‘superb’.<\/em> \u00a0Chef Benny added that it was an intelligent use of the ingredients, and that the coffee came through well. \u00a0Chef Pete said it was ‘a superb use of coffee’<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The judges praised the Finalists who had ‘shone today’<\/em>, in their plating and textures, especially given the challenging cooking equipment and conditions, and lack of refrigeration. \u00a0Amanda and Leandri were sent to the Pressure Test, taking place in Addis Ababa tonight, while the judges decided to reward both Tiron and Kamini with a MasterClass by a top chef in the Jemma Valley in Ethiopia in tonight’s episode.<\/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>\u00a0and\u00a0episode 10<\/strong><\/a>, \u00a0episode 11<\/strong><\/a>, \u00a0episode 12<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0episode 13,<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0episode 14<\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a0episode 15<\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a0episode 16<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>episode 17<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0episode 18<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0read here. \u00a0Enter our competitions, to predict the Finalist who will be\u00a0eliminated in the next\u00a0Pressure Test<\/strong><\/span><\/a>,\u00a0and which\u00a0Finalist will win MasterChef SA Season 2<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

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

Despite a long tedious recap of last weeks’s episode 18, last night’s episode 19 of MasterChef SA was exciting and something different, being filmed in Ethiopia, a country in which coffee was first discovered, and it was fitting that the cooking in the episode focused on coffee. The eight Finalists were very excited to see […]<\/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":[124,14539,20,21],"tags":[20319,19486,15182,15291,32378,20321,20318,20325,20326,20323,15935,19487,20328,19367,19384,19470,1406,32404,20327,20320,19469,1458,15467,10151,18083,19374,20324,19333,20322,32373],"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