A chaotic curry cook-off under intense scrutiny cuts Calvin from MasterChef South Africa
Cooking on MasterChef South Africa is never easy, but under the watchful eye of feisty investigative journalist Devi Sankaree Govender, there is nowhere to hide. This week, Devi brought extra spice to the kitchen as a guest judge in an episode dedicated to her culinary speciality – curry. While she’s best known for her television shows, where she catches crooks and exposes wrongdoing, Devi is also the co-author of a cookbook celebrating the art of curry.
Unfortunately, Durbanite Calvin Silson (30), who desperately wanted to make his curry-loving hometown and Devi proud, uncharacteristically buckled under the pressure and became the latest contestant to leave the competition.
In true Devi style, the episode began with a gruelling round of questioning. The Top 7 were put on the spot with a curry knowledge quiz to determine which three contestants would earn safety on the gantry and which four would face elimination.
While Shoki suffered an anxiety attack in the crossfire and was unable to answer the first question Devi posed to her, Calvin confidently nailed his. However, as the whittling-down process continued, he was eventually caught out by a tricky question. Devi wanted to know the main ingredient in saag curry, and Calvin learnt that saag is made with spinach and other leafy greens.
So, Calvin joined Shoki, Candice and Nkululeko, who had also failed the test, in the elimination challenge.
These four contestants were then tasked with preparing a MasterChef-worthy curry feast – something hearty and delicious that they would serve to family and friends on a Saturday night, brimming with a balance of heat, texture and flavour. Importantly, they also had to create two side dishes, which the judges cautioned should not be treated as an afterthought. They had 90 minutes and an open pantry.
Calvin’s menu consisted of a Durban lamb curry and a murgh makhani-inspired dish in which cauliflower would replace the traditional chicken. His chosen sides were paneer kofta and flatbread.
Judge Justine recommended that he incorporate saag, the ingredient that had tripped him up in the quiz, explaining that a spinach purée pairs beautifully with paneer. Although he thought it was a novel idea, Calvin stuck to his original paneer plan.
In contrast to Justine’s friendly advice, Devi paid frequent, intimidating visits to Calvin’s workstation, scrutinising his every move and making scathing remarks. On one occasion, she even instructed him to wipe food from his face, where it had landed in the scurry to pull his dish together.
In a major setback that forced him to pivot – and fast – Calvin realised he had forgotten to add corn to his kofta mixture. Consequently, he switched to basmati rice. While judge Zola questioned whether plain rice was ambitious enough for a MasterChef elimination challenge, Devi was equally unimpressed – especially when Calvin revealed that turmeric would be the rice’s primary flavour, which she dismissed as little more than a “colour situation“. Devi demanded that he race back to the pantry and find ingredients such as star anise, bay leaves, cinnamon, or anything else that would add depth and flavour.
The harsh criticism left Calvin in a panic, but with time running short, he couldn’t gather those ingredients. In the fluster, his intended cauliflower also fell by the wayside. Nevertheless, at the end of the cook, Calvin reckoned his curry was appetising and visually striking, and he hoped it was tasty enough to save the day.
When presenting his dish, Calvin joked that the curry would either earn him the keys to Durban or ban him from King Shaka International Airport.
Based on the judges’ comments, it was not the key. Despite praising his perfectly cooked lamb knuckles, they felt the dish resembled a stew more than a curry-forward plate. They also didn’t buy Calvin’s explanation that the missing cauliflower was intentional, and without it, the murgh makhani was little more than a butter sauce. Ultimately, however, the side dishes, lacking flavour and finishing touches, sealed Calvin’s fate.
In her parting words, Justine noted that Calvin “didn’t bring the Calvin game” they were accustomed to. Throughout the season, he wowed the judges with his scrumptious Italian dishes, immense creativity, kind spirit and quiet strength. The curry challenge was just not his finest hour.
The judges were also underwhelmed by Shoki and Nkululeko’s supposed curry feasts, but they raved about Candice’s homely, hearty and aromatic chicken curry and potato dish, with which she paid tribute to her late mom, who reached the Top 35 in MasterChef South Africa Season 2. At the time, the judges said Candice’s mom had made the best curry they had ever tasted. Understandably, it was a deeply emotional moment for Candice this week when she won Dish of the Day.
MasterChef South Africa Season 6 keeps e.tv viewers on the knife’s edge every Sunday at 18:00, with rebroadcasts on the channel on Saturdays at 17:00, and additional airings on eExtra on Saturdays at 20:30 and on eReality on Sundays at 17:00.
While e.tv is available on free-to-air, the channel is also hosted on all DStv packages on DStv’s channel 194, and the CatchUp episodes will be on eVOD (watch.evod.co.za) from the day after the premiere episode. eReality is available on Openview.
Represented internationally by Banijay Entertainment, MasterChef is the world’s most successful cookery television format (Guinness World Records). Now commissioned across 71 markets, the life-changing show has aired over 700 seasons and more than 16,000 episodes to date. Created by Franc Roddam and first launched in 1990, the superbrand is known and enjoyed worldwide.
MasterChef South Africa is produced by the multi-award-winning production company Homebrew Films for Primedia Studios. The series was once again filmed at Atlantic Studios in Cape Town.
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