Gauteng-based chef and food consultant Lebogang Mpuang said her goodbyes on
Top Chef South Africa on Tuesday (2 August) when she became the fourth cheftestant to be booted from the kitchen.
Here's a
chicken wrap of the episode by the show:
Episode 4
The outspoken and often entertaining Lebogang crashed out of the competition after both her sweet and savoury high tea dishes were met with criticism at the Judges' Table.
The cheftestants were challenged to surprise the judges with a dish cooked using just one pot in this week’s Quickfire Challenge. While they could rewash their pot, they didn’t get to choose the kind of pot they had to cook with, which was decided by a knife pull.
Tensions ran high as they jostled for stove top space and many left plating to the last minute. It was cheftestant Phillip Nel, who is Chef de Partie at Rust en Vrede
wine estate, who won the challenge and bagged immunity for the Elimination Challenge with his gourmet steak sandwich.
In a test of both pastry skills and finesse, the cheftestants were then split into two teams and asked create a high tea menu with six sweet and six savoury items in the Elimination Challenge
.
The episode had its fair share of drama: Ayabonga Gope was clueless about what a high tea is, Martine Christian forgot to add baking powder to her scones and Kim Clement and host and judge Lorna Maseko had an "exchange of words".
But it was Lebo’s gradual descent that proved to be the flop of the day. While initially excited about the high tea challenge, she slowly ran out of time while making a milk tart mousse and a choux pastry with two other savoury mousses.
Lebo, who co-owns a catering and food consulting and training company Blackcurrant Food Concepts
with fellow cheftestant Linda Mazibuko, was sad to leave but admitted to understanding why she was sent packing.
This week’s
guest judge comedian Trevor Gumbi pulled no punches with his criticism for the dishes he didn’t enjoy, making for some awkward and comical moments.
It was Annemarie Robertson’s chicken mousse and chocolate frangipane that was named the winner.
10 cheftestants are left vying for the title.