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As Season 2 of MasterChef SA builds to a climax, Shelley Seid asks participants about their experiences
Sue-Ann Allen, runner-up, MasterChef Season 1
Chef Pete was the hardest judge to please. It was always toughest presenting to him, perhaps because I valued his opinion and approval so much.
I made very good friends in the house. I still see Ilse all the time. I think our new cookbook, Gourmet Sisters, is testimony to the fact that a lifelong friendship was formed. Deena and I also still chat.
My life has changed completely. I now get to do what I love. It isn’t easy building a name for yourself or a business, but MasterChef paved the way.
Lwazi Mngoma, MasterChef Season 1, eliminated in episode 6
It’s amazing how many people still recognise me. It is still strange having that “hey I know you” conversation. I suppose the adage “once you go black you never go back” keeps me in people’s mind. If I were forced to choose my favourite judge, I would say Benny. He and I love hip hop and amagwinya.
The biggest difference I can see between the first and second seasons is the amount of tears shed. I don’t remember us crying that much. From a food perspective I think the second group is more comfortable in creating the kind of dishes our international counterparts are creating.
Khumo Twala (below), MasterChef South Africa Season 2
It is difficult at first to share space with 15 other people, but because they were all so warm and lovely it was easy. Amanda and I bonded like sisters. Karen and I shared a mother and daughter bond. We would always try things out on each other, although we did more reading than anything. Cookbooks are the best.
The toughest challenge was the David Higgs pressure test where we were presented with complicated elements such as macaroons and panna cotta. It’s never easy to replicate a top chef’s dish.
When I watch myself on TV, I think I came across as very nervous, which I’m not. I am very talkative usually.
Kamini Pather (right), finalist, MasterChef Season 2
I’ve watched MasterChef for years so none of the challenges were that shocking. I went in without trying to predict what the experience would be like. It has changed me forever. No one, besides the top 16, knows exactly what it is like.
There aren’t many foods that I dislike or have issues eating. I once tasted cured octopus which tasted much like what I would expect the Jolly Green Giant’s toenails to taste like — pretty grim. But in the right dish, I would eat it again.
The culinary team was amazing. They would swoop in and make it look as though we had never even touched a spice or wielded a knife.
On the flight to Ethiopia, Chef Benny was walking around with his headphones on. We met at the bathroom crossing and he took off the headphones and let me listen; he was listening to [the rapper] Drake. “The dimples” is such an easy going guy!
I didn’t realise, until I watched myself on TV, that I spoke in one-liners. I called my brother to ask if that was how I actually spoke. He confirmed it.
Joani Mitchell (above), MasterChef South Africa, Season 2
The most difficult thing for me was not having access to the kitchen daily. We cooked in groups and were only allowed into the kitchen when it was your turn, which is why I got up at 3am most mornings when the house was quiet and I could bake to my heart’s content.
My Durban homie, Chef Benny, was so inspiring, caring and gently honest. But I love and respect all the judges, and I desperately wanted to impress them.
I felt totally out of my depth in the coconut challenge which put me in the elimination round that sent me packing. They blindfolded us to identify the fruit which made me feel really dizzy and so when the challenge started I was all over the place.
I am a little more chilled in reality than on TV. Most of the contestants called me Mom, which made it really hard for me when someone was eliminated. The pressured environment was very scary at times and my only regret is that I didn’t have more fun — but what a ride!
Arnold Tanzer (right), culinary producer, MasterChef South Africa
It is always a challenge to move a large crew, tons of equipment and excited contestants anywhere. We went to Ethiopia before filming to look at challenge locations, supplies and accommodation, then it was a question of putting long lists of equipment together, getting it packed and shipping it off. It came down to planning and being really good at Excel spreadsheets!
The all-night challenge in Season 1 was really taxing because it came after a full day’s shoot. The team who put it together had to be sure everything was in place, that all equipment was working, that the pantry had everything required, and so on. We cannot afford to make a mistake because people’s dreams are on the line.
In the first season we required a boat load of ice to keep the fish cool and fresh on a hot West Coast beach. Try buying 800kg of ice in a small fishing village!
I suspect that the call to audition in Season 1 brought out everyone who thought
MasterChef was an easy competition, but after viewing the series people have realised that this is a serious competition. The cooks that entered this year show amazing talent.
Deena Naidoo (left), winner, MasterChef South Africa Season 1
There are at least 12 cameras on set and you have a microphone attached to you for the entire duration of filming. This means that every emotion and every word is captured in some way or form. The pressure of cooking during the challenges was so intense that I did not allow the camera’s presence to distract me in any way, but it was great to return to normality.
Leftover food was taken to a local charity. Jade and I found a few homeless people close to the estate and we walked to where they settled and carried food to them.
The funniest moment that viewers never got to see was Chef Benny’s tasting of the potato and leek soup. We were in a barn and a bird in the rafters overhead did a poo in the soup — the chefs knew but they were still obliged to taste . . .
Benny Masekwameng (bottom left), MasterChef SA judge
For me, the most notable difference between seasons 1 and 2 has been the quality of the contestants and the standard of the dishes they produced. In Season 2 contestants came prepared — they had learnt from Season 1’s challenges and some even went as far as studying what we judges were like as individuals! As judges, it is important to watch what we eat when we are not shooting the series. We have trained stomachs, so we can take more than the average person who does not do what we do on a daily basis, but exercise is also important.
We had the most fun during the “nose to tail” episode. I could relate to cooking and eating all parts of a pig carcass — it was the cheapest form of protein that we could afford at home when I was a child.