MasterChef South Africa Season 5 kicked off with much drama in the kitchen
No MasterChef aprons for five of the twenty contestants
The much-anticipated fifth season of MasterChef South Africa, now in its new home on S3, turned up the heat right from the start.
After the twenty selected home cooks from diverse backgrounds and different parts of the country entered the MasterChef kitchen, hoping to win the local version of the world’s biggest competition, a massive, unnerving surprise awaited them.
Once the show’s three connoisseur judges – Zola Nene, Justine Drake, and Katlego Mlambo – welcomed them to what might be a life-changing journey, Justine dropped a bombshell. Their first cooking assignment was a final audition; five of them would go home without a MasterChef apron.
For this final audition, the twenty home cooks were tasked to create a restaurant-worthy chicken dish from a bag of Pick n Pay ingredients. They had to portion and supreme the chicken and build the flavour with their own choice of herbs and vegetables. Furthermore, the aspiring MasterChef contenders had to impress the judges with a mirepoix and classic bouquet garni. (A mirepoix is a mixture of diced vegetables cooked with fat/butter on low heat without colouring or browning, and a bouquet garni is a bundle of herbs).
In addition, offcuts and scraps had to be used imaginatively to round off the dish, and the contestants would be judged on their knife skills, creativity, plating, and, of course, how it all tasted.
After 90 minutes of intense cooking in a nerve-wracking race against the clock, the judges reached their verdict. The five whose dishes did not earn them a MasterChef apron during the gruelling final auditions were Lucas Roothman (33), Robyn Africa (28) Andrew Nye (42), Lesego Matuludi (26) and Ella Bella Constantinides-Leite (39).
In honour of his father, Andrew from Johannesburg prepared a Sunday roast, a cooking ritual they shared for many years. Andrew served his roast with potato batons, veggies, and gravy. Although Judge Zola loved Andrew’s interpretation of the task and his creativity, Andrew’s broth cost him a place in the MasterChef South Africa Season 5 Top 20. Zola explained, “It was a little bit fatty, and the consistency was wrong.”
Environmentalist Ella Bella from Bedfordview, known for her quest to educate people about sustainability, was inspired by her Greek roots. Justine commended Ella for showcasing her heritage but felt the skin was a little burnt and the garnish lacked finesse.
When chef Katlego broke the sad news to Robyn, a mother of two from Midrand, he praised the plating of her dish – supreme-cut chicken with domino dauphinoise baked in a roasted garlic Béchamel sauce. Unfortunately, Robin’s seasoning fell short.
“Balance” turned out to be the determining factor for Lesego from Boksburg’s departure. While the judges enjoyed the delicious sauce accompanying her panned-seared chicken supreme, her hand was a little bit too heavy with the garlic and ginger.
Meanwhile, the judges felt that rugby coach Lucas from Stellenbosch created a solid, tasty dish. Still, it didn’t blow them away.
The MasterChef South Africa kitchen is equipped with products from: @home, Beko (appliances), Durbanville Hills Winery, Edison Stone (Wüsthoff knives), Setamono Hibachi (grills), Chef Gear (aprons and chef jackets), My Butcher’s Block, and Mervyn Gers (bespoke crockery). Among the other sponsors are LED Lighting SA and YOCO.
MasterChef South Africa season 5 episodes premiere on S3 (formerly SABC 3) on Saturdays at 19:30, with rebroadcast on S3 on Sundays at 18:30 and SABC 2 on Wednesdays at 18:00.
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