A lack of seasoning tipped the confident Libra’s culinary scale
In MasterChef South Africa Season’s fun-themed – yet super tense – fourth cook-off, the fourteen remaining home cooks competing for R1 million had to invent a dish inspired by the judges’ star signs.
With that, those who believe that the Zodiac influences our personalities, likes and dislikes, might argue that contestant Zak Ebrahim’s MasterChef South Africa fate was written in the stars. 46-year-old Zak from Northriding, Johannesburg, became the second home cook to leave the MasterChef Kitchen after the launch episode’s gruelling final auditions.
Although the Durban-born entrepreneur rated his creation as a “humble 8 out of 10” and worthy of being chosen as one of this week’s top three meals, Libra Zak’s MasterChef South Africa culinary scale tipped to the bottom three when the judges deemed it an “unbalanced dish”.
At the start of the episode, the three MasterChef South Africa judges – Justine Drake, Chef Zola Nene, and Chef Katlego Mlambo – revealed their astrological signs, whereafter a deck of cards randomly determined for which judge the contestants would cook.
Justine shared that she is a fiery Aries, explaining her love for spicy food, intense flavours, bold presentation, and lean protein. On the opposite side of the celestial spectrum, Zola and Katlego are water signs. Zola, representing Pisces, disclosed that she is drawn to food sprinkled with imagination and that people born under this star sign tend to follow a Mediterranean diet. Meanwhile, Cancerian Katlego confessed that he cooks to express emotion and prefers warm and fuzzy home-cooked meals that evoke a sense of nostalgia.
But who would cook for the Zodiac’s goat, fish, and crab?
Zak drew the card with the crab image, meaning he could pour his heart into a dish that would be “home away from home” for Chef Katlego. That’s why Zak opted for a meal that reminded him of opening the kitchen door at home on Sundays with his granny cooking for the family: a lamb knuckle with butter beans, mild curry, basmati rice, and honey-glazed roasted carrots.
To Zak’s surprise, his aromatic serving of reminiscence put him up for possible elimination alongside two other Durbanites – young recent graduate Shreya Beekhum and food content creator Chanel Brink.
Like Zak, Chanel cooked lamb to pay tribute to Chef Katlego’s star sign. In her case, a lamb shank with a tomato-based sauce, sautéed spinach, and amadumbe chips. Unfortunately, perfecting a lamb shank within the cook-off’s allocated 75 minutes was way too ambitious. It was a pity as the judges thought this Leo’s sauce was delicious with its multiple layers of flavour. However, Chanel’s amadumbe chips, a last-minute attempt to rescue her planned amadumbe mash that turned into a gummy paste, were a disaster. The chips were hard, chewy and unpalatable.
Scorpio Shreya’s sin was her prawns. She was thrilled to be tasked to whip up a dish for Zola, as she shared the chef’s sentiment about Mediterranean food. That translated into grilled prawns with a Mediterranean sauce, lemon and herb compound butter and bread. Unfortunately, Shreya’s serving didn’t taste as good as it looked. Zola remarked that the prawns didn’t soak up the sauce for long enough and that they were undercooked. Justine and Katlego agreed, frowning upon their almost raw prawns.
Still, Zak’s dish curried the least favour with the judges. The carrots and rice were overcooked, the seasoning was not pronounced, and Zola gauged that the dish needed more salt.
While Zak’s dish was on the bottom rung of the MasterChef South Africa cuisine ladder this week, the show’s youngest contestant, Bridget (20), cooked her way to the top with a West African-inspired spicy dish for Justine. The judges were in awe of this Scorpio’s kingklip with Jollof risotto and chakalaka purée with cannellini beans. Justine raved about the “symphony of flavours, colours and textures,” and Zola, who appreciates experimental food, admired the eclectic combination.
Nabila was again at Bridget’s side in the top three with yet another beautifully crafted dish. However, this time, the two ladies were joined by Nash, who redeemed himself after the messy, broken pie he presented at the previous challenge. Nash impressed the judges with a scrumptious steak and his prawns were adequately cooked. Like Shreya, Tina, who won the pie-challenge, couldn’t say the same.
MasterChef South Africa is proudly sponsored by Pick n Pay, which also stocks the fresh produce and a variety of ingredients in the show’s Pick n Pay Pantry.