An injured Bridget left the kitchen, and lousy time management toppled Nash
In the sprint to the MasterChef South Africa finale in November, the challenges have become incredibly tense and trying for the remaining contestants who are cooking off to win the prize pot of R1 million. However, the latest episode literally resulted in blood, sweat and tears.
MasterChef South Africa’s youngest contestant, Bridget Mangwandi (20), was medically evacuated after slashing her thumb with a super sharp knife. Besides Bridget’s severe injury and the blood spatter on the floor, some of the home cooks struggled with the kitchen equipment and huffed and puffed to get the job done in the race against the clock. Furthermore, a fan favourite, charismatic Nash Zwambila (38), broke MasterChef’s golden rule by not plating a complete meal. His lousy time management resulted in a sad elimination.
This week’s guest judge, Chef Moses Moloi, named the best chef in the country at the 2024 South African Restaurant Awards, set the culinary bar exceptionally high. The “mushroom whisperer” instructed the home cooks to replicate his complex “Enchanted Forest Elegance” dish—mushroom ragu with king oyster, shiitake, and butter mushrooms.
The food guru’s masterpiece comprised eleven elements that required immaculate execution and advanced technical skills to bring about the intended flavour mix. Luckily, the contestants had access to his recipe. However, it spanned an overwhelming eight pages.
While Durban-based home cook Chanel Brink was on the gantry, immune from elimination after winning the previous round, the seven contestants on the kitchen floor realised that pulling off this recipe within a two-and-a-half hour time limit would be a mammoth task.
Those knowing that meat dishes are their forte feared that this vegetarian umami creation with so many mushroom types would end their MasterChef South Africa journey. For Refe Dimbaza, who returned to the show after being sent home, it was like a nightmare come true. During a previous blindfolded taste test, she theatrically displayed her fungi-as-food aversion.
Ironically, Bridget and Nash loved the idea of working with mushrooms. Nash explained that he regards mushrooms as “a beautiful, safe way between people who eat meat and vegetarians” because they “have a meaty flavour but still of the earth.” Nash revealed that all the purees, pickles, and oils put him in a spin. In his mind, sticking to the recipe would be his saving grace.
Bridget grasped the tricks of the trade to execute this dish flawlessly from the get-go. At the halfway mark, she was ahead of all the others, and the judges – Zola Nene, Chef Katlego Mlambo and Justine Drake – seemed impressed with her progress.
But then disaster struck. While making the miso puré and chopping away, her hand slipped. Her thumb went under the knife, and because of this severe cut, the medics were called in.
Soon thereafter, Eastern Cape’s Lona Rode started panicking. There was a problem with his blender. First, he asked Naledi to assist. Unfortunately, she didn’t want to waste time, as she was already stressed out and emotional about completing the task. Naledi spent much time on the gantry and entered this elimination round feeling rusted. So, she told him to turn on the switch. It didn’t work. Then Lona turned to Refe, who pointed out he was pressing the wrong button.
Meanwhile, Penny Rider was baffled by the recipe, and the judges raved about Nash’s oil.
With only ten minutes left, Nabila Shamshum was the only competitor not in haste, with just her garnishes to plate. On the contrary, Lona realised that time was not on his side. The only way to finish the challenge was to use his creativity and not stick with Chef Moses’s presentation.
Then, with two minutes remaining, Chanel urged Nash to start plating. Although he gave her the thumbs up, he got distracted by finessing one of the components. When the judges began the countdown, there was hardly anything on Nash’s plate.
After the judges had sampled the dishes in the @home taste room, Nabila was chosen as the challenge winner. But Lona, Nash and Naledi received terrible news. They were this week’s bottom three.
Ultimately, Nash got the boot. The three elements he served the judges were delicious, but not serving all the food he prepared with so much effort was inexcusable.
A disappointed Justine started crying when saying their goodbyes, and Zola and some contestants had to wipe away the tears, too.
MasterChef South Africa Season 5 is proudly sponsored by Pick n Pay and produced by Homebrew Films for Primedia Studios. The show premieres on S3 (formerly SABC3) on Saturdays at 19:00. The rebroadcasts are on SABC 2 on Sundays at 18:30 and S3 on Wednesdays at 18:00.