[Submitted via press release]
Famous faces, a Nederburg winemaster, an Immunity Pin, an award winning chef plus the judges - this was the latest episode of MasterChef SA. Though no one left the kitchen for good, there were still more than enough thrills in the show.
First up, contestants were introduced to the Invention Test - pairing the correct Nederburg wine with a meal. The Top 9 had randomly chosen bottles of wine and had to cook a complementary meal. In strolled Nederburg winemaster, Razvan Macici. Luckily, he offered many tips to the contestants that helped to narrow down their recipes.
The judges served up another curveball to the contestants: they had to prepare their chosen meal for 10 people because there were an extra seven hungry celebs waiting in the wings. These VIPs were: radio and TV personality, Unathi Msengana; actor, Desmond Dube; former Springbok rugby player and sport commentator, Breyton Paulse; The Wild star, Milan Murray; Marokko Swallows player and model, Ryan Botha; singer, Loyiso; and Drum food editor and TV cooking host, Sibahle Mtungana. Talk about glitz and glam … and pressure.
The celeb guests had to vote for the winner in the Invention Test. The winner would get a chance to go head-to-head with a celeb chef. The prize at stake: an Immunity Pin that will grant the holder safety from elimination in the next few weeks - very handy to have at this stage of the challenge! The Bottom Three Dishes, however, would go into a Pressure Test.
Both Deena and Manisha voiced their concerns, not having much knowledge of wine pairing. Jade, Lungi, Thys, Sarel, Ilse, Sue-Ann and Khaya knew exactly what to make and flew out of the pantry to start preparing their dishes.
After 90 minutes, they had to stop cooking and dress in their chefs’ best to serve the celebs. Despite Khaya having had misgivings about her dessert (chocolate fondant and berry coulis with her Noble Late Harvest), her dish was voted the winning one. Loyiso summed it up perfectly: “A good dessert wine deserves a good dessert.”
Chef Benny announced that the Bottom Three, Thys, Jade and Deena would go into the Pressure Test.
Winner of the Invention Test, Khaya, went into the kitchen for her cook-off with a well-known chef. The stakes were high: an Immunity Pin was on offer. Reuben Riffel revealed himself as the guest chef to go head to head with Khaya. She hoped the dish they have to prepare would be from Riffel’s recipe book. Next week: Khaya does battle with Reuben while the Bottom Three battle each other.