Episode 15 of MasterChef South Africa aired last week and of course I have to share my views. Having been part of the fourth season of MasterChef, I can’t help but compare while watching the show. Read my episode summary below.

Fun fact - my lighting company LLSA supplied all the lights in the pantry and around the studio, and we are mentioned as a sponsor in the credits. 

Spoiler Alert

If you are behind, I recommend you stop reading now!
Click here read up more about the MasterChef season 5 contestants, or read the summaries from the previous MasterChef episodes if you’re trying to catch up.

Want to Watch MasterChef South Africa?

MasterChef South Africa Season premiered on Saturday July 13 at on S3, and new episodes are aired every Saturday. From November, episodes will air at 8:30 pm every Saturday, with the rebroadcasts on Sundays on S2 at 6:30 pm and on Wednesdays on S3 at 6:00 pm.

Looking back - What happened on the previous MasterChef episodes?

Click here to jump straight to episode 15 and skip the summaries of the previous episodes.

In the first episode, contestants had to make a chicken dish with a sauce or a broth, but for it to be at MasterChef-worthy standard. They were given 90 minutes and their dish needed to include a mirepoix (a mixture of diced vegetables cooked on a low heat in oil or butter) and it needed to include a Bouquet Garni, which is a bundle of herbs. In traditional French cuisine this includes parsley, bay leaves and thyme but other herbs can be added too. 

What was most shocking about this first episode, is that the contestants went down from 20 to 15 in one go. The contestants who were eliminated in the first episode were Lucas, Lesego, Robyn, Andrew and Ella. 

In the second episode, contestants had to use the single humble ingredient of an apple, and think of the apple of their eye in their life when cooking. The contestants were allowed to make something sweet or savoury. No contestants were eliminated and Naledi won the mystery box challenge.

In the third episode, Naledi was up in the gantry as a reward for winning the mystery box challenge in the previous episode. The remaining contestants were challenged by guest judge Chef Nokx Majozi in a pressure test to recreate her signature Pepper Steak Pie. Tina, Bridget and Amo had made the best pepper steak pies, and Tina won the elimination challenge. Nash, Lona and Melanie found themselves in the bottom three and Melanie was eliminated. 

In the fourth episode, the contestants were asked to pay tribute to and draw inspiration from the judges’ star signs when creating their dishes in this challenge. They couldn’t choose which judge’s star sign they were going to base their dish on, but it was an elimination based on chance as they had to choose a card in order to determine which protein they would be cooking. Chanel, Shreya and Zak found themselves in the bottom three. Zakariyya Ibrahim (Zak) went home as his curry failed to deliver. According to Judge Katlego, the lack of seasoning was his downfall and both the rice and carrots were overcooked, and the dish was not balanced.

In the fifth episode, guest judge Jackie Burger challenged the contestants to use fashion models and their incredible outfits to make their own creative interpretation of the outfits. Nabela, Ketsia and Tebogo were in the top 3 and Amogelang Maluleke (Amo), Tzu Ting Long (Tina) and Penny in the bottom, with Tina from Home Bao going home in the end.

In the sixth episode, MasterChef contestants competed in their first team challenge. The episode took place at Durbanville Hills wine estate. Contestants were welcomed to the award-winning Tangram restaurant by cellar master Pieter-Niel Rossouw and Head Chef Tamzyn Ehlers. Tebogo was Team Captain for the Blue Team (made up of Naledi, Chanel, Amo, Shreya and Nabila) and Nash headed up the Red Team which also included Penny, Ketsia, Nash, Bridget, Lona and Refe. Contestants needed to create a ‘Buffet of New Beginnings’ which was basically an interactive buffet table re-inventing old-style buffet combinations and pairing creations with wine from the Durbanville Hills Collectors Reserve range. Ultimately, the blue team took home the victory.

The seventh episode saw Penny, Ketsia, Nash, Bridget, Lona, Refe and Nash battling it out against each other in a elimination challenge. They were given an hour to showcase their creativity by whipping up a gourmet meal from the judges’ typical month-end leftovers and were only allowed to use 20 classic frugal South African staples. Ultimately Ketsia’s flatbread and tuna salad dish did not meet the mark and she was eliminated from the competition.

In the eight episode contestants were asked to embrace the air fryer revolution and use it as their main cooking method to reinvent a classic potato dish to a modern bistro-worthy delight. Nash, Chanel and Lona cooked the top 3 dishes and Bridget, Tebogo and Naledi found themselves in the bottom three. Chanel won the challenge with her potato dauphinoise with chorizo caramelised crisp and a little bit of lemon and she was given the opportunity to win an Immunity Pin. She did need to beat Herman Lensing at his game - Herman has published several cookbooks and three with air fryer recipes specifically so he is South Africa’s leading expert on cooking with air fryers. This is when mysterious guest rode in on a Pick ‘n Pay asap! scooter… me!

I took two paper bags out my Pick ‘n Pay asap! scooter, one with a “Land” and one with a “Sky” sticker on them. With that, the judges left to the back and I was left to be the referee for the challenge. Chanel chose “Sky” and needed to cook with duck, whilst Herman Lensing was given lamb.

With the ninth episode we reached the halfway mark of the competition. The top 10 walked in in white aprons and were challenged with making a plant-based dish using the humble cabbage as the hero ingredient. Amo, Nabila and Shreya found themselves in the bottom three, but were safe from elimination due to it being a non-elimination challenge. Refe, Chanel and Lona were in the Top 3 and Lona won 50,000 rand to the best dish.

In the tenth episode, Shreya announced that she would be leaving the MasterChef kitchen without participating in the next challenge. She had been struggling with anxiety throughout the competition, and after receiving “some unfortunate news” from her family, she left, calling it “an act of self-love and an act of self-care.”

After Shreya walked out, the the MasterChef contestants welcomed celebrity chef Alessandro Khojane, “Sotho Italian” (owner of Gemelli in Bryanston). Contestants are given two hours to create an Italian-South African dish. Naledi won the challenge with her chicken roulade and Refe goes home.

In the eleventh episode, Naledi spent the challenge on the gantry after winning the challenge in the previous episode. As the contestants soon found out, it was a A Mystery Box Team Challenge. They were divided up in teams of two, with Chanel alone in the yellow team after Shreya had pulled out of the competition in the last episode. To even things out, the judges brought back Refe, who was only just eliminated one episode prior. Each team is provided a different meat parcel and they are each tasked to making 1.5 kgs of wors, cooking it on the hibachi, and serving their with modern side dish of a heritage starch and a tasty sauce or gravy. Last but not least, they are required to make a true South African delicacy: skilpadjies. All of this, needed to be done within the 2.5 hour time frame. The wors needs to be made the old fashioned way: using a manual meat grinder found in their mystery boxes. In the end, the Green Team made up of Nabila and Lona took home the victory. This means that they will be safe from the next challenge, spending it on the gantry, and can’t be eliminated from the competition during the next episode.

In the twelfth episode, Penny, Chanel, Refe, Amo, Bridget, Nash and Naledi had to pass a blind taste challenge. After being blindfolded, they were each given a variety of ingredients which had been cut into identically sized cubes. Penny, Chanel, Bridget, Amo and Refe make a mistake whereas all of Naledi’s guesses are correct. As a result, Naledi gets to join Nabila and Lona on the gantry and also can’t be eliminated from the competition during the next challenge. They have to create two tiny dishes: an amuse bouche, usually served at the beginning of the meal as a gift from the chef to awaken the pallet, and a bonbon (or a friandise, or mignardise), usually served at the end of a meal. Their sweet dish had to contain chocolate and they needed to make six of each.

Amo’s savoury tart with caramelised onion purée and quail breast was criticised for the crumbly and overcooked pastry, and he was eliminated from the competition.

In the thirteenth episode, Chanel watched from the gantry whilst the remaining seven contestants (Nabila, Lona, Penny, Refe, Bridget, Nash and Naledi) had to replicate Chef Moses Moloi’s “Enchanted Forest Elegance” in two and a half hours. There are quite a few techniques in the intricate dish and the contestants visibly struggled with the race against time. The episode is action-packed: Bridget cuts her finger, Lona struggles to switch on his Taurus Kitchen Machine and Nash doesn’t start plating until the countdown begins. This as it turns out is his downfall. Managing to put just one or two elements on the plate was not enough and Nash was eliminated from MasterChef season 5.

In the fourteenth episode, the top 7 contestants welcome a guest judge: head chef of The Pot Luck Club in Johannesburg, Ebie Du Toit (@chefebiii). Chef Ebie challenges the MasterChef contestants to make a bougie brunch spread consisting of three dishes: a brunch classic with a twist, a reinvented classic cocktail presented as a dish, and a fresh take on avocado toast. Their dishes must appeal to the demanding millennial brunch aficionado and so contestants are reminded to apply both their technical and plating skills. They are given two hours and an open pantry with all ingredients from Pick ‘n Pay available to use. Refe makes the dishes of the day and Bridget, Naledi and Nabila end up in the bottom three. Naledi is eliminated from the competition.

In episode 15, the six remaining MasterChef contestants (Chanel, Nabila, Lona, Penny, Refe, and Bridget) are pushed to their creative limits with a challenge unlike any other. As they walk into the MasterChef studio, they see smoke and dramatic fire works. Six different types of molecular gastronomy cooking processes are displayed on black squares on their work spaces.

The challenge

The contestants are tasked to surprise the judges with a dish “that is steeped in illusion, deception, secrets and masquerades between savoury and sweet”. Their dish must also include a molecular gastronomy technique. Essentially they must craft dishes that not only taste incredible but also surprise and deceive the judges, using elements of illusion and secrecy. Being assigned techniques from the world of molecular gastronomy, which blends science with culinary art, adds to the complexity of the challenge. They are also asked to shift effortlessly between savoury and sweet flavours, keeping the judges guessing at every bite.

Using a match, contestants burn away the paper in the frame on their cooking station, which then display the molecular gastronomy technique that has been allocated to them. Allowing for a plot twist, judges have given them the option to swop with another contestant. The trick is to convince someone else to buy into your cooking technique, as you will then gain five minutes of cooking time, where they lose five. As it turns out though, with ninety minutes on the clock, losing five is too high a prize to pay and no contestants end up swopping, despite some trying really hard to get rid of their allocated technique.

What are Molecular Gastronomy Cooking Techniques?

Molecular Gastronomy is a scientific approach to cooking, where you use different techniques, preparations and ingredients. They are each given a different cooking technique, but all from the molecular gastronomy family. Refe is allocated Gelification, a technique that turns liquids into gels, and she's feeling the pressure. In the diary room interview it seems she doesn’t really know what gelification is.

The MasterChef Contestants’ Dishes

Lona was allocated ‘freezing’ as a technique and gets to play around with dry ice. He decides to make a dish that resembles a sunny side egg in the presentation but is made up of a cheesecake ice cream with a lemon and mango sorbet representing the yolk. The judges like the look of the dish, especially when Katlego scooped into it and it appeared the ‘yolk’ was runny. This was possibly actually unintentional, as Lona had forgotten to put his dish in the blast freezer before plating the ice cream, which made it a bit softer than he intended as it slightly melted as he scooped it onto the plate.

Refe’s dish which she aptly named What the...Butternut, is a Butternut mille-feuille with butternut crème, pistachio paste, roasted butternut and a carrot and orange purée. Unfortunately it does not surprise the judges in the way she had intended:

Bridget made a Seaside Frozen Forest with Savoury Pistachio Paste Sea Sponge. Zola was very complimentary: “I love the whimsy of this dish. The mushroom sponge - really flavourful. Loved the crunch of the chocolate on the outside, and even the sprinkles to give it a bit of extra texture, the colours are fun. Everything makes sense.”

Justine is also happy with Bridget’s dish: ”I think it’s like a frozen forest. I loved the forest floor. That nutty, chocolaty, …” At this stage Bridget chips in that the forest floor included Amarula, which led Justine to exclaim: “no wonder I liked it.”

All in all, Justine thought it was just divine. “It made me smile.”

Penny's Grilled Quail with Mexican Mole Sauce was missing the surprise element, but her tongue-in-cheek “surprise surprise, it’s not there” made the judges laugh.

Penny’s dish did not get a lot of good feedback though.

Chanel drew inspiration from a childhood dish her gran always used to make whenever she had a lot of carrots and condensed milk. Her Gajar Halwa with carrot, cashew soil and caramelised bacon was shaped like a carrot. The savoury sweet combination was appreciated by the judges. Justine: “I really thought that was quite interesting. That savoury, salty bacon with a sweet halva”. The cashew nuts soil was “more pebbly than soily” but still delicious. Zola called her dish “so fun” and hoped that Chanel had as much fun making the dish as Zola had eating it. “I couldn’t decide - is it sweet? Is it savoury? And I don’t mind either way.” Zola called it “very whimsical”.

The Dish of the Day

Bridget won the challenge and won a fridge. Her Seaside Frozen Forest with Savoury Pistachio Paste Sea Sponge won the judges over. In winning the challenge, she won a Beko two-door fridge.

The Bottom Two

Up next, Katlego asks Penny and Refe to step forward: “both your dishes were the least successful of the day, but luckily, today no one is going home.“ As it is a non-elimination challenge, there is no implication for either Penny or Refe and both get to cook in the next challenge. But looking at both of them, they saw their MasterChef lives flash in front of their eyes and will probably cook with even more determination in the next episode!

Radio Interview with Judge Katlego

As has Gugu Mhlungu usually interviews eliminated contestants on her radio programme ‘Weekend Breakfast with Gugu Mhlungu’ , she interviewed Katlego Mlambo after episode 15 as no one went home. I have linked the interviews below:

Katlego’s interview on ‘Weekend Breakfast with Gugu Mhlungu’

Katlego Mlambo was interviewed on ‘Weekend Breakfast with Gugu Mhlungu’ on 702 on October 20th 2024. You can listen to the radio interview below:

After the episode where I rode in on a Pick ‘n Pay ASAP scooter, I also gave a few radio interviews:

• Click here if you want to hear Gugs’ interview with me (or read the transcript).

• Click here if you want to read Pippa Hudson’s interview with me (or read the transcript).

MasterChef South Africa episode 16

Looking ahead, the preview of the sixteenth episode of MasterChef South Africa gave us a hint of what the next episode will be about as the contestants will be cooking at Bertus Basson’s Clara’s Barn. I have eaten at Clara’s Barn before, and Bertus Basson was a guest judge on season four of MasterChef South Africa and so I am particularly looking forward to this episode.

Who will win MasterChef South Africa season 5? Time will tell…

MasterChef Season 5 Episode Summaries

Click here read up more about the MasterChef season 5 contestants, or read the summary from the previous MasterChef episodes if you’re trying to catch up:

• Episode 1 - Twenty MasterChef contestants cook a chicken dish, but only 15 remain

• Episode 2 - The MasterChef contestants cook for the the Apple of their Eye in a mystery box challenge

• Episode 3 - Chef Nokx Majozi Signature Pepper Steak Pie

• Episode 4 - Paying tribute to the Judges’ Star Signs

• Episode 5 - Translating Fashion into Food with guest judge Jackie Burger

• Episode 6 - Buffet of New Beginnings at Durbanville Hills wine estate

• Episode 7 - Leftovers and South African staples

• Episode 8 - Potatoes, Air Fryers, an Immunity Pin and two Special Guests

• Episode 9 - Cabbage, cabbage, cabbage!

• Episode 10 - A fusion of South African and Italian

• Episode 11 - Heritage Trinity: Wors, Skilpaadjies on the Hibachi and a Starch

• Episode 12 - Life’s Tiny Pleasures - a Taste Challenge and Micro Fine Dining

• Episode 13 - A Pressure Test cooking Chef Moses Moloi’s “Enchanted Forest Elegance”

• Episode 14 - A Bougie Brunch

• Episode 15 - Savoury and Sweet Surprises using Molecular Gastronomy (this page)

More MasterChef Episode Summaries:

Want to Watch MasterChef South Africa?

MasterChef South Africa Season premiered on Saturday July 13 at on S3, and new episodes are aired every Saturday. From November, episodes will air at 8:30 pm every Saturday, with the rebroadcasts on Sundays on S2 at 6:30 pm and on Wednesdays on S3 at 6:00 pm.

Or click here read up more about the MasterChef season 5 contestants.

About Shawn Godfrey

Shawn Godfrey is an entrepreneur based in Cape Town, South Africa. After the Covid-19 lockdown saw his business in financial distress, cooking was the creative outlet that helped to keep him sane. To keep track of his recipes, and encourage friends and families to join him, he starts his instagram account The Roasted Dad.

Fast-forward to late 2021 - on a whim Shawn (encouraged by his wife Lianne) enters MasterChef South Africa. It is a crazy time of life: running a 200 people business and struggling to keep it profitable, two small children with a third on the way, and about to move into a new house. But when Shawn gets selected to be one of the 20 contestants participating in the fourth season of MasterChef South Africa, he decides to go all in. Leaving his 7-month-pregnant wife to look after their then three and one-year-old children, he battles it out and comes back home five weeks later with the trophy and a million rand prize money in his pocket.

It all started with an Instagram account, but The Roasted Dad is so much more now. Shawn has stayed his entrepreneurial self and whilst he hosts Private Dinner Parties and Cook-with-Me Demos, does Restaurant Take-Overs, he still runs the lighting company and several other businesses.

On his blog, Shawn shares Restaurant Reviews and Accommodation Reviews, and gives an insight into the wild and wonderful life he leads together with his wife Lianne, and their three children Aiden (6), Olivia (4) and Harvey (2).

Sign up to the newsletter below to be kept up to date with events, new recipes and reviews, or contact Shawn to chat about recipe creation, restaurant takeovers and public speaking events.