This could not have been further from the truth when the MasterChef judges blind-sided him by announcing to everyone’s surprise that two would be leaving the MasterChef kitchen that day.Charles was nailed by the judges for serving a plate of bangers and mash and none seemed to think that is was a dish worthy of a MasterChef title.The panel beater come bagpiper from Cape Town had begun the two day challenge in good spirits and commented on how good it was to be in the MasterChef kitchen and have everything available to him in the pantry.
The mystery box was not such a mystery after all with each contestant having to produce a dish that they remembered from their childhood. Despite having earlier commented on the wide selection of produce available it did not prevent Charles Canning from settling on sausages and mash potato, a dish that would see him land in the bottom five on the first day of the challenge. He claimed it was a modern take on his grandmothers bangers and mash that she used to make for him as a child, in Hermanus.
He appeared to have doubts about his choice though, in the back of his mind he was questioning his decision and his lack of confidence was revealed when he said, “I just hope this twist will work. Got a 1 in 18 chance, just like everybody else”.
Benny Masekwameng simply said, “Too simple” and Charles Canning found himself in the bottom five along with
Lwazi Mngoma,
Fortune Kangueehi, Berdina Schurink and
Mmutsi Maseko.
The bottom five faced the
koeksister recipe and koesister challenge where each had to make a batch of these uniquely South African desserts. It turned out to be fifteen minutes of television that left millions of South African viewers craving koeksisters and hen pecked husbands roaming the streets looking for a late night supermarket with stock.
This was an extremely tough challenge for those that were not skilled at working with dough and no doubt designed to weed out those weak links from the final group early on. Berdina and Mmutsi delivered with ease while Charles, Lwazi and Fortune struggled.
When Fortune received her marching orders Lwazi and Charles breathed huge sighs of relief but then had the wind knocked out of them when Pete Goffe-Wood announced that one more would be leaving. With that Charles Canning was gone.
The reality of this competition is that if you think you only have a 1 in 18 chance of going through to the next round you are dead in the water, you have to give yourself a 100% chance of making it through each stage. If you don’t you will be playing the Last Post on your bagpipes at the Menin Gate.
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