What the judges say

Professional braai masters and chefs Pete Goffe-Wood and Benny Masekwameng have been judges on the past three series of Ultimate Braai Master.

CHEF PETE GOFFE-WOOD

Cape Town Consultant chef and judge on MasterChef SA for four seasons

Ultimate Braai Master, I love it. So good to be back, this has been a really exciting season and the level of food made by the contestants was some of the best we’ve seen in the series. One got a sense that the contestants, as an upside to lockdowns in the last 18 months, had more time to practise and cook and have been able to challenge themselves with new ideas.

It’s not an easy competition, the contestants this season had to cook in the driving rain and howling wind. They don’t call Gqeberha the windy city for nothing. It is why this competition is so incredible and definitely separates the wheat from the chaff.

We got to taste some stellar food, including up to 40 dishes in the two last challenges, from a diverse group of contestants from home cooks to professional chefs. Professional doesn’t mean you necessarily have the edge as in the previous six seasons professional chefs have taken top honours once.

What did stand out in this season was the camaraderie among the contestants, how they bonded from the very first day— and the genuine emotion displayed by the contestants when a team was eliminated.

When I braai at home I prefer to use wood as it imparts a wonderful smoky flavour to my favourite cuts of steak — rib-eye and bavette, the flank. I use a 50/50 mixture on my steak of extra virgin olive oil and Worcestershire sauce plus salt and pepper, seasoned before it goes on the fire. My top braai tip is to always keep your grid clean. This business of “burning it clean” is just lazy.

CHEF BENNY MASEKWAMENG

Johannesburg Chef, TV personality and judge on MasterChef SA

It’s great to be back on UBM. After a break of a couple of years, I’ve been longing for it!

With all the negative implications and restrictions around the pandemic, fellow judge Pete Goffe-Wood and I believe it has had a positive spinoff in that contestants, who have found themselves at home during lockdown, have had more time to practise dishes and we’ve seen how the teams all have had something up their sleeves to impress the judges. As judges we experienced better quality and better-tasting food.

The dish that stands out in the series for me was something made in the very first episode, when the Violet team, Dion Vengatass and Yuzaine Philander, prepared a fishhead curry in a potjie. It just blew me away. It was amazing, having to navigate around the head for the pockets of meat and sucking on the bones. Delicious.

Being exposed to all these wonderful braai ideas, when it comes to a braai at home my family love pork and seafood. Prawns and pork belly are the favourites but then we do enjoy boerie, chops and steak – and, yes, veggies cooked over the coals. My secret to a good braai is to have control of the fire. Learn how to manage your fire, and my motto is cook big cuts low and slow; thinner cuts, high heat and quick.

And my favourite way to braai is using wood because it adds those lovely smoky notes to food.