In this episode we got to see the contestants of MasterChef SA cooking it up in the charming seaside village of Paternoster.
They were introduced to chef patron, Suzi Holtzhausen of Gaaitjie Saltwater Restaurant– arguably one of the best seafood restaurants in the country. Lucky fishes!
Challenge
The contestants were split into two teams: Team Red consisted of Deena, Khaya and Sarel while Team Blue was made up of Manisha, Sue-Ann and Lungile.
The challenge was to take inspiration from Suzi’s menu and create a seafood platter to serve 15 locals. They had 90 minutes to complete the task.
Suzi complemented the cooks saying, ‘Immense respect was shown to the ingredients, particularly to the degree to which the seafood was cooked. For me, that is the golden rule of cooking fish, so well done for that!’
The Blue Team eventually won the challenge which meant that the unlucky 3 making their way into the dreaded Pressure test were Deena, Sarel and mom-to-be Khaya.
Pressure Test
The test was hectic! The 3 hopefuls had to recreate a dish which judge Andrew and his team won a silver medal for at the 1995 Culinary Olympic Games – one that took, wait for it… 4 years to get right!
The award-winning dish
Brioche encrusted springbok loin with an asparagus tower filled with a mushroom and leek ragu, a duo-coloured pasta parcel filled with a ricotta and spinach filling, served with a rooibos tea infused béarnaise sauce and a peppadew salsa. Gulp!
Sarel’s béarnaise sauce curdled, as did everyone else’s – which was a pity. In the end, it was goodbye to poor Khaya whose pasta was way too thick and salsa wasn’t cooked for long enough.
She left saying, ‘I’ve had a great experience here at MasterChef. I could never trade it for anything in the world. There were a lot of highs and very few lows. It has changed me as a person. It has taught me patience, something that my man will be very happy about. No-one can take that away from me.’
Hear hear!