Photos: Trevor Crighton/M-Net
The Durban auditions of M-Net's MasterChef South Africa took place yesterday in KwaZulu/Natal, following this past Saturday's MasterChef South Africa auditions in Cape Town.
One of the entries yesterday in Durban for MasterChef South Africa was this caramel and peppermint tart above, completely with MasterChef logo.
The reality show will start on the pay broadcaster on 20 March 2012 at 19:30 for 13 episodes. MasterChef South Africa is produced by Curious Pictures and Lucky Bean Media and the winner will get R8 million worth of prizes including his or her own restaurant.
Another contestant who showed up at Durban's MasterChef South Africa auditions yesterday at the Suncoast Casino was Louise van Balderen (30) from La Mercy. She attempted to wow the MasterChef South Africa judges with her ''inspired'' seafood creation. Contestants travelled from as far as Pretoria and even Port Alfred to bring their food creations to the chefs for a taste.
''We expect MasterChef South Africa will be the most talked-about series of 2012,'' says Lani Lombard, M-Net's communications manager. ''Contestants set a very high standard and we would like to thank everyone who entered for going to such extraordinary lengths and efforts with their culinary creations.''
''In Johannesburg we had the largest number of entries – with some even trying their luck more than once in the day,'' says Lani Lombard. ''Cape Town is undoubtedly the 'foodie' capital of South Africa, and as such the quality of the dishes was incredibly high and the entrants' knowledge about food was extremely impressive. This weekend Durban proved to be the most creative city of them all, with presentation being the focus of the day!''
Curious Pictures and Lucky Bean Media are now in the process of short-listing only the very best contestants from around the country. These contestants will gather in January 2012 to cook a hot dish for the show's judges after which they will be whittled down once more.