Twenty talented home cooks, selected from thousands of entries, entered the MasterChef South Africa kitchen this week, hoping to win the life-changing reality show cooking competition and the R1 million grand prize. However, several of these aspiring chefs quickly learnt that their toughest adversary in a MasterChef challenge is the ticking clock on the wall.
That proved true for Rejane Gwynne (50) from Malgas in the Western Cape and East London’s Chanelle Gale (38), who became the first contestants to exit the sixth season of MasterChef South Africa.
At the start of an episode boiling over with drama, tears, and nerve-racking moments, yet also with excitement and nostalgia, the judges threw the contestants a curveball: after the season’s first elimination challenge, not one but two contestants would be sent home.
Another surprise awaited the twenty home cooks. Inside the mystery boxes at their workstations, each contestant found a photograph from their childhood. With that, they were tasked with using the picture as inspiration to create a dish that reminds them of growing up, while elevating those memories into a MasterChef-worthy meal – all within just 60 minutes.
Simple ingredients like carrots and cabbage featured in some meal plans, alongside South African food fare such as springbok fillet, snoek, biryani, pilchards, samosas and “seven colours”. In some quarters, as judge Justine Drake noted, it even turned into a “battle of the pap”.
Both Rejane and Chanelle chose to honour their dads through their cooking. On Rejane’s menu was “Pan-fried rib eye with pomme purée and pan-fried asparagus”, and Chanelle planned a tribute to “Rys, vleis and aartappels” in the form of wrapped lamb chop noisette with deep-fried potatoes and carrot purée.
Unfortunately, time was not on their side. Before presenting her food to the judges, an anxious Chanelle admitted, “It was not what I wanted to present”. Not all the food items she intended to prepare made it onto the plate. Although judge Zola Nene commended the carrot purée, Chanelle wasted too much time deboning the lamb. Had she made a last-minute plan to French-trim it quickly, as Zola suggested, the result might have been a completed and satisfying dish.
Rejane’s downfall was lingering too long in the kitchen’s exquisite pantry. Due to this “shopping spree”, precious minutes slipped by, leaving her meat raw – an absolute no-no in the MasterChef kitchen.
Zulu home cook and graphic designer Nkululeko Ngubane (35) was visibly disappointed after landing in the first episode’s bottom three, alongside Rejane and Chanelle. Although some of the elements in his dish were also not ready in time, he believed the judges would still love his flavours. However, Chef Katlego Mlambo found his “Pap arancini” slightly dry and lacking cheese.
In contrast, all three of the show’s esteemed judges only had praise for the delicious dishes prepared by Limpopo’s Lesego Motshana (24), Western Cape senior attorney Ali Sonday (30) and KZN-born entrepreneur Simele Shange, who were named the top three.
Ultimately, Ali’s “Deconstructed samosa chaat” with potato and chickpea filling, tamarind and coriander chutney with sweet yoghurt dressing was the dish of the day – much to his astonishment, as he was not particularly confident about his performance.
More good news followed when Beko also gifted Ali an 84cm French door fridge with an Everfresh setting, designed to keep fruit and vegetables fresher for longer than a traditional refrigerator.
In the next episode, the tables will be turned when the focus shifts from the contestants’ stories via preparing meals that represent their food history to getting to know the judges. The challenge will be built around cooking the judging trio’s favourite meals.
MasterChef South Africa Season 6, produced by Homebrew Films for Primedia Studios, airs in its new home on e.tv on Sundays at 18:00, with simultaneous streaming on eVOD Live TV. Episodes are rebroadcast on Saturdays at 17:00, with additional rebroadcasts on eExtra on Saturdays at 20:30 and eReality on Sundays at 17:00.