MasterChef SA S4 Day 4: Jelly babies and the most halaal-friendly MasterChef ever in the world.

by Thinus Ferreira

Their whole childhood stood before them in the 4th episode of MasterChef SA on M-Net (DStv 101) on Thursday night when the remaining contestants in the fourth season saw a wall of sweets and treats behind the judges, with the task to complete an invention test.

The contestants each had to come up with a dish inspired by one of the favourite snacks of the three judges, and could be hot or cold, sweet or savoury, a starter, a main course or a dessert.

Judge Gregory Czarnecki implored and warned the contestants not to spoil their childhood treat memories.

Masedi spilled some wine when he broke a bottle and then accidentally unplugged Charmaine's ice-cream maker who was making Pringle ice-cream, while Tembisa burnt both her onions and cheese.

With just two minutes left, all of the contestants seemed far from done with their dishes. Tembisa cried later and said "I could have done more".

At the end of the episode Thembisa and Masedi were the two lowest-scoring contestants.

"Unfortunately, for one of you, the MasterChef journey is over. Unfortunately it's you Masedi," Gregory Czarnecki said.

Masedi said "I'm not as hurt or as heartbroken as I would have been. To be part of the top 16, that is such an honour guys.  

A full halaal kitchen

Two out of the 20 MasterChef SA contestants this season are Muslim - Mohammed Haffejee and Tasnim Mohammed.

In the first episode, DStv subscribers learnt that Tasnim, originally from Durban but having moved to Boksburg on the East Rand in Johannesburg, has a daughter, Iman who was born with a rare auto-immune disease - Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) that is a genetic disease that affects nerves. 

"Tasnim is from a conservative Muslim family but MasterChef South Africa at Makers Landing was made a full halaal kitchen," says Homebrew Films producer Paul Venter.

"We made everything possible for her, like separate halaal fridges. Tasnim for instance couldn't be in a diary room with men, so we had female content directors for her and it was all fine."

"It was also such an incredible learning experience for us - for the crew - for everybody. She thanked us for MasterChef SA being the most hahaal-friendly MasterChef ever in the world."

ALSO READ: MasterChef SA S4 Day 1: Spilling the tea inside the MasterChef cathedral. 

ALSO READ: MasterChef SA S4 Day 2: Out for a duck.

ALSO READ: MasterChef SA S4 Day 3: Fine-dining lunch out-of-the-box.

MasterChef SA S4 Day 3: Fine-dining lunch out-of-the-box.

by Thinus Ferreira

It was time for some out-of-the-box thinking in the third episode of MasterChef SA's fourth season on M-Net (DStv 101) on Wednesday evening when the contestants were divided into two teams for a team challenge and tasked with preparing lunch ... for a group of health care workers.

Chef Bertus Basson dropped by Makers Landing as a guest judge for the red team with Charmaine as team leader, and the blue team with dentist Dr Harri as the team captain who were competing for immunity as a team in Thursday's episode that will be a pressure test.

"During this lockdown, the entire restaurant industry came to a standstill. Stuck at home, we were forced to reinvent ourselves. Even fine dining establishments had to resort themselves to the previously unthinkable: making takeaway meals," said judge Gregory Czarnecki.

"Just like that, a new trend was created - fast fine-dining."

For the challenge, each team had to make 24 lunch boxes with two fast fine-dining dishes. 

The first dish had to use sustainably sourced fish, while the second dish had to be a fine-dining take on an iconic South African workers' lunch. It should also be possible to hold and eat one of the dishes with just one hand.

The red team prepared Amasi fried fish with slap chips and tartar sauce, as well as a Durban lamb curry for a ubuntu bunny chow with spinach dombolo (dumplings) and salsa.

The blue team made a Cape Cream Mille-Feuille sandwich, as well as Putu Arancini balls that is spicy mince balls filling and chakalaka.

The blue team won, which means that they will be watching from the balcony during Thursday evening's episode as the contestants who were in red, take part in a pressure test.

Take it away

"This episode gave an interpretation to the Covid-pandemic where suddenly restaurants had to look at take-aways. They had to start boxing stuff," says Homebrew Films producer Paul Venter.

"Bertus Basson was our guest judge because he is just the King of the Box when it comes to fine-dining take-aways. The guy's running five restaurants at the moment and he does these most amazing boxes."

"He says it's just amazing to get to the homes of his clients - when they open their front doors in their shorts - and then he gives them their box. He gets to see them in a different light while he's bringing them this fine dining experience."

"The nursing staff and health workers from the Somerset Hospital visited for the episode and we gave them the feast of the take-aways so thank them for the role they've been playing during Covid to save lives."

"Episode three of MasterChef SA, as are all of them, are just a very feel-good, South African show celebrating our local food culture," he says.

ALSO READ: MasterChef SA S4 Day 1: Spilling the tea inside the MasterChef cathedral. 

ALSO READ: MasterChef SA S4 Day 2: Out for a duck.

MasterChef SA S4 Day 2: Out for a duck.

by Thinus Ferreira

In the second episode of the 4th season of MasterChef SA on M-Net (DStv 101) it was instantly clear that MasterChef SA judge Gregory Czarnecki's duck dish would be the most difficult to get right out of the three judges' dishes - which led to contestant Mohammed getting axed.

In Tuesday evening's episode, the contestants were divided up between the three judges and had to prepare one of their dishes that revealed a bit about themselves, with judge Zola Nene that said they were looking forward "to tasting my memories through your cooking".

There was Gregory Czarnecki's "duck a la Orange" - a simple yet very difficult recipe to execute with the secret in the sauce - with duck fat confit potatoes and sultana pancakes.

Zola Nene's "isinkwa sombilla" had steamed mielie bread, cheese sausage and apple chutney that was made by her maternal grandmother.

Judge Justine Drake's dish was an Asian noodle broth of ramen, fragrant meat and vegetables.

Several of the contestants mentioned to the judges that they felt like failures when it came time to bring their dish to the judges' table.

Tasnim came close to tears, telling them that "It fell apart. It's really not what I wanted to put in front of you, I mean no disrespect."

She made Justine's noodle dish - and what a surprise: She got one of the highest scores and had nothing to be worried about.

Mohammed said "I feel angry and I feel embarrassed and I feel ashamed to bring something like this forward".

In the end Onezwa, Masedi and Mohammed rounded out the bottom three, with Mohammed who got sent home after Gregory said that his duck dish "didn't bring the emotion that I was looking for".

First time cooking duck

"Following on from the introductory episode and the challenge of preparing a starter, Tuesday's second episode is where the judges were introduced to DStv subscribers and the contestants," says content producer Errieda du Toit.

"Each of the three judges presented a definitive dish that says something about them. The contestants had to draw a card to see which dish they had to prepare, and they had to replicate it exactly."

"For most of them it was the first time eating duck, cooking duck - the daylights frightened out of them having to make duck a la Orange."

ALSO READ: MasterChef SA S4 Day 1: Spilling the tea inside the MasterChef cathedral.

MasterChef SA season 4 on M-Net: The judges are Justine Drake, Zola Nene and Gregory Czarnecki.

by Thinus Ferreira

The three new judges for the fourth season of MasterChef SA on M-Net (DStv 101) are the food editor Justine Drake as well as the local and international chefs Zola Nene and Gregory Czarnecki.

The fourth season of MasterChef SA, filmed at the V&A Waterfront's Makers Landing in Cape Town, where the kitchen for the contestants was constructed, will start on Monday 28 February at 18:00 and will this time run with daily episodes from Mondays to Thursdays, with the finale on Thursday 31 March in which the winner gets R1 million.

"We are focused on improving the gender balance in MasterChef judges worldwide. Over the last couple of years, we have increased the number of female judges and this is something we are continuing to improve upon," says Dave De Bie, format consultant at Banijay, the content producers who own the rights to the show.

"Out of 37 active markets, 26 now have female judges. We are delighted that MasterChef SA joins the likes of Israel, Norway and Brazil with two female experts on their panel."

Yolisa Phahle, MultiChoice CEO of general entertainment and connected video, says "We're very excited to have one of our most-loved shows – and toughest of reality competitions – returning to our screen after some time away",

"We have always had a rich crop of home chefs to choose from, but the pandemic has certainly created more, and this is the perfect time for MasterChef South Africa to make a comeback."

As the culinary masters whose palates and expertise will guide a new crop of contestants in the MasterChef SA kitchen, Gregory Czarnecki will bring the perspective of an international chef with Zola Nene and Justine Drake being the local experts.

Zola Nene's professional journey with food started in 2007 when she enrolled at the Institute of Culinary Arts in Stellenbosch.

She has since gone on to great success within the food industry and in television and authored two popular cookbooks – 2017's Simply Delicious and 2018's Simply Zola. She was also part of the judging panel for The Great South African Bake Off on BBC Lifestyle (DStv 174) in 2017.

Born in France to parents who were gourmands, Gregory Czarnecki was head chef at The Restaurant at Waterkloof and won the coveted Chef of the Year award from Eat Out in 2016. 

He served as a mentor for the prestigious S. Pellegrino Young Chef competition in Africa and the Middle East, and his French heritage is carried intelligently and creatively in his food.

Justine Drake is the launch editor of Pick n Pay's Fresh Living magazine. Having worked in food media since 1988, she has authored five cookbooks, is an experienced TV host and during the Covid-19 pandemic started hosting Just Cook at Home SA with Justine Drake on YouTube.

ALSO READ: M-Net’s MasterChef South Africa season 4 wraps filming at Cape Town's V&A Waterfront.

ALSO READ: M-Net revives MasterChef South Africa for a 4th season from February 2022 as comfort food television this time with Homebrew producing in Cape Town as a Covid-19 safe bubble production.