Press Release
Farewell to Claire
Episode 10
This week it was the turn of the lovely events company owner from Cape Town, Claire Allen (27), to bid the MasterChef kitchen farewell when she fell “fowl” of the judges’ dastardly game of chicken.
The Top 9 knew something was up the minute they walked back into the MasterChef kitchen after their Durban adventures.
After last week’s Pressure Test that sent Refilwe home, the remaining contestants assumed that they would return to the kitchen in Paarl for a new Invention Test … and to a certain extent they were right, except that there were black aprons on each station meaning that they would be faced with the first back-to-back elimination of the season.
Chef Reuben Riffel announced the desirable reward for this challenge: the winner would get to decide on the pairings for the next team challenge. But it would not be easy ... Pete Goffe-Wood revealed the challenge that would send one competitor home today: “to create a beautiful family dish using the entire chicken – skin, white meat, dark meat ... all of it,” he announced.
Ian (49), an advertising consultant from Cape Town, thought the giblets would be a bit of a curveball. “I’ve never eaten it, so I’m going to have to cook and taste and find the solution on the fly,” he admitted.
Claire also immediately felt a premonition: “My roast chickens come without giblets,” she complained. “I don’t like giblets and I want to gag. In my opinion those are organs that shouldn’t be touched!”
But after some thought she announced to Benny Masekwameng that she was planning a “Chicken Three Ways” dish with fried chicken breasts and chicken ballantines stuffed with her Granny’s Chicken Stuffing, plus some sticky sweet chicken wings.
When the time came to present their chicken creations to the judges Cape Town musician Francois (22) was happy with his chicken pie that he served with sweet potato purée and aubergine mozarella chicken liver roulade.
Unfortunately the judges all thought that the pie didn’t cook for long enough. “This can’t be my last day in the kitchen,” a disappointed Francois fretted. “I’ve got so much more to show them.”
Siphokazi (38), a domestic worker from Cape Town, served her famous peri-peri roasted chicken with tomato samp and chicken liver bruschetta.
Reuben didn’t appreciate the samp “al dentre” and Benny was critical of the overuse of chili on the bruschetta, along with the peri-peri chicken. “If you’re going to have everything with a bit of chili and peri-peri, you need to make sure that there’s a balance there,” he lectured.
Roxi (26), the train driver assistant from Durban, presented chicken tapas with couscous croquettes, butternut-stuffed chicken ballantines, chips three ways, and chicken lollipops filled with chicken liver mousse, which Benny thought fell far short of the description she gave him earlier.
The couscous crust around the croquettes was too thick and chewy, he complained, the butternut chips were too thick and tough to chew with the skin still on it, and the colours of the dish were all golden brown and orange.
“I always fear that when you have a plate with multiple elements, you spend too much time trying to be too many things and not enough time concentrating on the business,” Pete pronounced.
But Durban teacher Penny (31) had a hit with her Coc Au Vin with mashed potato, green beans almondine, and chicken liver paté bruschetta. “This is what Coc Au Vin should taste like!” Pete raved. “My grandmother was typically French and very critical. I think she’d be quite pleased that I’ve done this today to honour her,” Penny smiled.
The reviews were mixed for 38-year-old Cape Town dental technologist Abigail’s “Flavours Of The Cape” platter.
“I would have loved to have some greens or other vegetables on the plate. I focused too much on doing too many things with the chicken,” she admitted, and Reuben agreed. “If that was the idea of a platter then it sort of like misses a few things to really make it a really good platter,” he commented.
Claire’s “Chicken Three Ways” creation didn’t work out as she had planned. “All three chickens taste the same,” Benny complained. “To me it tastes like chicken that was done in the oven and nothing to differentiate them except for the basting sauce on the side. The whole combination for me didn’t work.”
But Philippa’s “Roast Chicken á la Robinson” with Jerusalem artichoke mash and gravy had Pete wishing for more. “My problem with having to taste nine chicken dishes back-to-back is that I don’t get to eat half of this roast chicken on my own,” he smiled. “This is what I was hoping for in this chicken challenge.”
And Ian was up last with his spatchcock chicken with chicken heart and livers salad, and fresh breadrolls that he baked himself that blew Rueben away. “That’s a bloody good bread,” he commented.
Pete summed up the three best dishes of the day on behalf of the judges. Ian’s spatchcock chicken was great, he said. “You really brought out the flavours of the chicken ... great bread, and a great salad accompaniment”. Penny’s Coc Au Vin was faultlessly prepared, he said, “a beautiful, unctuous dish, wonderful to eat”. And he loved Philippa’s “beautifully roasted chicken”.
Penny was named the winner of the chicken Invention Test and could start thinking so long who she wanted to pair with whom for the next challenge. “Being able to choose pairs for the next round, I think it’s a huge advantage,” she reflected happily. “You get to strategise and think who you cook well with but not only that - who could benefit you most in the kitchen.”
In the end, it was a sad farewell for Claire, who enjoyed a number of highlights on the show.