Ndumiso, Claire, Siphokazi
Episode 7
Ndumiso Mncwabe (28), the ambitious mobile bar owner from Durban, this week became the second contestant to be defeated in MasterChef South Africa Season 3, in a dramatic showdown between him and events company owner Claire (27) from Cape Town, and the indefatigable Siphokazi (38), a domestic worker also from Cape Town.
As the three contestants walked into the kitchen this week for their Pressure Test, Sipho immediately noticed that this would be something completely different. “As I walk into the kitchen I see two little white things,” she noted. “I’m not sure what is it ... Is it an ice cooler or something? I don’t know ... I have no idea.”
The mystery was explained when judges Pete Goffe-Wood, Reuben Riffel and Benny Masekwameng introduced a very special guest for the challenge, Swedish superchef Niklas Ekstedt, who only ever cooks over an open fire. “It’s old, ancient Scandinavian cooking techniques – that’s what it’s all about,” he explained.
The judges explained that for their Pressure Test Ndumiso, Claire and Sipho would have to replicate Chef Niklas’s langoustine dish with tomato concassé, lightly smoked avocado, and dill, by cooking over an open fire!
“Chef Niklas cooks on coals – I am so amazed by that. How can you cook on coals?” Sipho wondered. But she would soon have to learn. “The most difficult thing when cooking with open fire, or coals, as we’re doing today, is that you really need to cook ... You can only rely on yourself. And you have to be focusing on the temperature as well as your ingredients and your cooking,” Chef Niklas offered helpfully.
“I don’t know if I would be able to so that,” fellow contestant Roxi (26), a train driver assistant from Durban, commented up in the gallery. “It’s a very hard challenge, especially in 45 minutes.”
Earlier, the rest of the Top 11 headed out into the heartland of the Karoo for their mystery reward, which turned out to be lunch at a proper Karoo farmhouse with Sydda Essop, the author of the best-selling cookbook, “Karoo Kitchen”.
“As we walk into the farmhouse there’s this beautiful kitchen/dining room area with a hearth and a fire, and pots on the fire, and this table that is literally groaning with food,” Philippa (48), a life skills lecturer from Johannesburg, said happily.
Abigail (38), a dental technologist from Cape Town, was particularly moved by Sydda’s passion for “slow cooking”. “It just took me back to when my mom was around because that’s what she did most, and it would be different meals on the table for everyone to share,” she said. “That story, that background – it just shows ‘ubuntu’ in us,” she thought.
As the Top 11 said their goodbyes Sydda handed them a tin filled with traditional “soetkoekies”, explaining that the tin also contained two messages for two people, all about their next challenge.
As Durban teacher Penny (31) bit into her cookie she discovered a message proclaiming her “Captain”. “So immediately I think, right: team challenge, and I’m the captain, obviously, of one of the teams,” she concluded. Philippa, it turned out, was the other team captain.
But back in the MasterChef kitchen the Pressure Test was over and Claire was up first to have her version of Chef Niklas’s langoustine dish judged. “I think they’re overcooked and they’re not a hundred percent clean and beautiful,” she worried.
Chef Niklas agreed that he would not have served her dish to his customers, but “I think you will become a great chef one day,” he complimented her nevertheless. “It’s the best compliment ever!” Claire beamed.
Sipho was worried about her broth, but Pete and Reuben thought that was the best part of her whole dish. “I can tell that you can cook,” Chef Niklas told her. “You just need to become a chef.”
And last to present was a very nervous Ndumiso. “What I’ve produced tells a struggle story,” he sighed. Chef Niklas admitted that there were small details in Ndumiso’s dish that irritated him, like the avocado that was supposed to be divided into quarters that Ndumiso had sliced instead. But the broth was better than he expected, he allowed.
Nevertheless, when the verdict came it was Ndumiso who had to hang up his apron. “I’ve been in the MasterChef kitchen. I’ve been part of the Top 12 amateur cooks. I never thought that would happen,” he reflected philosophically before leaving the MasterChef kitchen behind him.
And as they mentally prepared for the upcoming team challenge, Pete reminded Sipho and Claire that there was still nothing standing between them and the MasterChef title. “My MasterChef journey continues!” said a relieved Sipho. “It feels like heaven.”
MasterChef South Africa is broadcast exclusively on M-Net Channel 101 every Thursday evening at 19:30, and now all the episodes of the season so far will be available via DStv Catch Up on Explora.