Dirk and Bahia are the first cooking couple to leave the My Kitchen Rules SA Headquarters
In this Sunday’s nail-biting episode of My Kitchen Rules SA, engaged couple, Dirk and Bahia from Somerset West, were eliminated after a Sudden Death cook-off against millennial besties, Minnie and Tee. The pairs were pitted against each other after finding themselves in the bottom two after a bowl inspired rapid cook-off, where they fell short of producing creative, innovative and flavourful dishes.
Last week on My Kitchen Rules SA, after ten weeks on action packed Instant Restaurants, eight teams walked into MKR Headquarters, where they faced a big surprise. The home cook teams were arranged into two new groups where their challenge was to create a village feast for sixty influential guests. Pashi’s leadership of the red cooks (Kim and Pashi, Rox and Spoen, Maritsa and Maradine and Donald and Luyanda) won them the People’s Choice and immunity, while the white cooks led by Joleen, were left facing elimination.
Upon entering MKR HQ, the contestants were excited to be cooking in the kitchen for the very first time, but also nervous about the challenge that awaited them, “first elimination, not the place I would have wanted to be,” a nervous Dirk admitted.
The tension in the kitchen was palpable from the get-go when the judges informed the losing white cooks (Maj and Joleen, Minnie and Tee, Jalal and Adrie and Dirk and Bahia) that they’d be cooking a bowl inspired dish. The brief: To create a food bowl that contains a grain or starch, a minimum of three vegetables and a protein. The twist: the teams only have 30 minutes to construct a delicious food bowl. Having never cooked in MKR HQ before and with time against them, the four teams of home cooks have to manage their time wisely to produce top-notch dishes in order to stay in the competition. Maj and Joleen opted for a completely vegan dish, shumami and Dirk and Bahia confidently plated an Indian chicken curry bowl. Jalal and Adrie cooked a kingklip and chermoula sauce while Minnie and Tee made uphuthu with trout.
At the end, Dirk and Bahia and Minnie and Tee found themselves in the Sudden Death elimination cook-off. Judge J’Something said that he was expecting something a bit more trendy and innovative than a bowl of curry with Dirk and Bahia’s dish, while with Minnie and Tee, he missed the creativity and the injection of flavour. “I didn’t expect this at all. I thought like dish of the day,” a surprised Dirk said.
The bottom two teams in the Sudden Death round are required to cook to their strengths, and produce one of their crowd-pleaser dishes within 90 minutes. Judge J’Something reminded the teams that flavour is king. Minnie and Tee delivered a Pork tagliatteli, where Tee handmade the tagliatteli! The judges enjoyed the pasta dish, saying that there was a lovely sweetness, the bacon and pasta created lovely textures and it was packed with flavour. Dirk and Bahia put forward beef samoosas, with coriander and mint dipping sauce and a tamarind, date and cashew chutney. This was a surprising choice to the competitor teams, as they believe that samoosas are a snack and not a great choice for this stage of the competition. The judges commented that the samoosas had a great crunch, with the pastry being a highlight. “The second chutney – cashew, tamarind and dates – it really didn’t pair well with the samoosas,” judge J’ said. “The spices, maybe not as distinctive as I would have liked. Overall, an average mince, but good samoosa,” Judge David told the couple. At this stage, Dirk realised that they probably didn’t like the dish.
Unfortunately, Dirk was right and it was the end of the road for the confident couple. The high achievers who posted 72 points out of a 100 for their Instant restaurant, just didn’t make the mark this time around and are the first team to be eliminated from the My Kitchen Rules SA Headquarters. “I would have really loved to have showcased more of who we are. Thank you guys, we have met the most amazing people and we really have been so blessed to be here, and that’s the main thing we’ll take away from this,” an emotional Bahia admitted.
With another dynamic People’s Choice challenge next week, the remaining seven pairs cannot afford to rest on their laurels. But what will travelling to seven destinations around South Africa to source unique ingredients for a culinary showdown, in an effort to bowl the South African Culinary Olympic team over, do to their nerves? Tune in next week to catch all the action.
My Kitchen Rules SA is broadcast on M-Net channel 101 every Sunday night at 18:00. Viewers can also visit www.mnet.tv/mkrsa to watch exclusive interviews with the judges and contestants. Follow all the breaking news and conversations around the show on Twitter @MNet / #MKRSA or on the official M-Net Facebook page.
