FOODIE FUN
MKR winners head for coast
EVERY foodie wants to sample their hearty boerekos since Jamandi and Magiel Bekker won last’s year’s reality cooking show
My Kitchen Rules and soon East Londoners will also get the opportunity to tuck into their delicious dishes.
The Bloemfontein couple, whose guesthouse Solo Gracia has benefited from a stylish makeover since its owners won R1-million on the hit M-Net show, have been spending more time in the kitchen than ever and will soon be embarking on a series of pop-up food evenings all over South Africa.
“We know from social media that we have a huge following in East London,” said Jamandi, who, together with her cowboy hat-wearing husband attended the media launch of the second season of My Kitchen
Rules at the Legend Golf Estate and Safari Resort in Limpopo this week.
“We love the East London coastline and have a timeshare at Chintsa East. In December, our [extended] family takes over about 10 units at Xanadu near the beach and we just love the craft brewery and all the little restaurants. Magiel has been going there since he was about three. We feel like locals there. We love that part of the world and are spending [this] weekend in a rented beach house in Kei Mouth.”
The couple chatted to the Dispatch at the launch where media teams faced off in an outdoor pizza-making challenge on Weber braais and were judged by the Bekkers.
My Kitchen Rules Season 2, which is currently being shot, begins on Sunday June 3 at 6pm.
Asked what advice they would offer the new season’s contestants, Magiel said the strength of each couple’s preexisting bond was a vital ingredient for success in the show.
“Don’t think you can do it if you haven’t evolved together because if you get put into a pressure test, you must trust each other.”
Jamandi agreed, saying it was important to know each other’s strengths and tackle food preparation tasks accordingly.
“He is good at chopping while I do the flavouring,”
She said that since winning the cash and renovating the restaurant of their 18-room Bloemfontein guesthouse and conference facility, their occupancy rate had rocketed from 65% to 85% and they had been overwhelmed with interest in their “Lekkerbekker” restaurant evenings.
“At this stage, we want to grab every opportunity despite the long hours. I lie in bed at night and my head spins with ideas. We will be touring with the pop-ups and cooking boerekos tapas at festivals. People love our sheep tails and lamb hearts, but when we come to East London we might do seafood and definitely our champagne jellies or maybe Magiel will make his special steaks,” said Jamandi, who dreams of bringing out a range of sauces and rubs.
As the king and queen of boerekos, Jamandi expressed surprise at the profile of their fan base.
“I always thought our biggest fans would be boere, but 80% of our following are African people. We love South African food culture and Magiel makes the best tripe and we love experimenting with African flavours.” —