Episode 7 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. 

A 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 7:30 pm on S3, and new episodes are aired every Saturday.
If you miss it an episode, it will be rebroadcast every Sunday on S2 at 6:30 pm and on Wednesdays on S3 at 6:00 pm.

Looking back - What happened on the previous MasterChef 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.

MasterChef South Africa Episode 7

The Challenge

The seventh episode of MasterChef South Africa Penny, Ketsia, Nash, Bridget, Lona, Refe and Nash battled it out against each other in this elimination challenge, while Amo, Chanel, Nabila, Naledi, Shreya, and Tebogo could watch them from the gantry. 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, such as canned food. The contestants also had to use fish in their dish.

Justine’s “bougie” fridge leftovers included roast chicken, roasted vegetables, beetroot juice, a few condiments, and a gherkin. Ketsia and Lorna were allocated these fridge leftovers to work with.

Judge Katlego’s fridge gave away bachelor status with leftover vegetable stir-fry, pizza, grilled fish, “slap tjips”, and a bottle of beer. Refe and Nash had to work with this.

Judge Zola Nene, provided leftovers true to her personal food style, “seven colours”, namely mealie rice, sweet potato, carrot salad, beetroot, green beans, and ginger beer. This is what Bridget and Penny got given.

Soon after the clock started ticking, chaos prevailed as contestants were scrambling to create MasterChef-worthy dishes from the judges’ leftovers. Having the other contestants calling out from the gantry only added to the chaos and particularly Refe struggled with what the ‘peanut gallery’ had to say and the noise and added pressure.

The MasterChef Contestants’ Dishes

Ketsia forgot to add yoghurt to her flatbread, Nash didn’t know how to make mayo and Bridget was not familiar with many of the items in her fridge.

While Nash was “super-innovative” in the way he transformed Judge Katlego’s leftovers, Justine commented that it was a bit “schizophrenic”. Lona struggled with his potstickers, first adding too much flower and then burning his batch and needing to start all over again.

The Judges

Penny and Refe’s dishes were the judges’ favourites. Penny’s sweet potato and tuna croquettes with Saltirax crumbs, herbs and smoked mussels on a pea purée, made with the leftovers from Zola’s fridge was referred to as a “symphony of flavours” by Judge Justine, who particularly enjoyed the enjoyed the mussel surprise in the croquette.

Judge Katlego rated Refe’s modern take on the traditional “surf and turf,” saying she “took Bully Beef to private school”. Refe had stuffed a croquette with pickled onions, ham, and corned beef and included a tuna sauce.

Lona and Ketsia found themselves in the bottom two in this episode. Ketsia had made a smoked mussel oil flatbread and tuna salad with pesto mayo, celery, pickled spring onions and parsley. Ketsia’s flatbread was described as ‘bland’ and the judges were surprised that she’d opted not to use Justine’s chicken leftovers.

Lona’s chicken potstickers with toasted sweet corn, pickled fish, and roasted vegetable puree were too acidic according to the judges, while the dough was too thick and stodgy. They did compliment the purée.

The Elimination

Ultimately Ketsia’s flatbread and tuna salad dish did not meet the mark and she was eliminated from the competition. Judge Justine Drake broke down in tears while telling her that her MasterChef journey had come to an end. Justine remarked that Ketsia had “cooked like a star” and that she would never forget Ketsia’s great interpretation of the ‘Fashion into Food’ challenge. “It was a triumph of quite some import,” Justine said.  

MasterChef South Africa episode 8

Looking ahead, the preview of the seventh episode of MasterChef South Africa gave us a hint of what the next episode will be about. A mysterious man arrives on a Pick n Pay asap scooter, presumably to deliver the challenge.

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 (this page)

• 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, Skilpadjies on the Hibachi and a Starch

Want to Watch MasterChef South Africa?

MasterChef South Africa Season premiered on Saturday July 13 at 7:30 pm on S3, and new episodes are aired every Saturday.
If you miss it an episode, it will be rebroadcast every Sunday 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).

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