Two contestants Myles Heneke and Bandziva Madinane were sent home on the latest episode of MasterChef South Africa on e.tv on Sunday 22 March.
TWO HOMECOOKS SENT HOME ON ‘MASTERCHEF SOUTH AFRICA’
The MasterChef judges – Justine Drake, Chef Katlego Mlambo and Zola Nene surprised the homecooks this past week as they were unaware of how many would be leaving the kitchen. Unfortunately, it was a double elimination.
Popular home cooks Myles Heneke (35), originally from the Cape Flats, and Durbanite Bandziva Madinane (31) had to leave the kitchen.
Until their departure, Bandziva, or Bandz for short, charmed viewers with their flamboyance, funky personality, pizzazz, flair and witty one-liners. Meanwhile, the poised Myles stood out for his sophisticated use of advanced culinary terminology and bold interpretations of the MasterChef South Africa challenges.
Unfortunately, ineffective time management and an overly complex approach to their burger and avocado dishes ultimately led to their downfall.
WHERE DID IT GO WRONG?
This past week the remaining sixteen contestants were tasked with taking inspiration from the evolution of the humble hamburger — from a simple combination of bun, patty, lettuce and a splash of tomato sauce to globally inspired, Instagram-worthy creations such as paratha, roti and ramen burgers. Their burgers had to be served with two side dishes and incorporate the abundance. While there was an open pantry, the home cooks did not have access to ground meat or baked items and had just 75 minutes to complete the challenge.
Myles, who admitted that avocado with burgers didn’t appeal to his palate, aimed to impress the judges with a refined reimagining of a burger, moving away from the delicious global flavours he had served thus far. So, to go from “Paris to Parys”, he decided to make a local-flavoured burger pie with three cheeses and sweet tomato smoortjie. And for the side dishes: duck fat semolina potatoes, and an extraordinary avocado coconut chocolate milkshake.
Despite the judges commending Myles’s innovative burger concept, and Judge Justine thinking the milkshake was “quite jolly” in a good way, he was penalised for not following the brief of presenting at least two side dishes. Not making his own pastry also counted against him.
Bandz, a keto diet enthusiast, leaned into the healthy-eating trend by creating inventive cabbage buns for his burger. Initially, the judges remarked that Bandz was a “Speedy Gonzales” in the kitchen this week, but Bandz soon realised a swift pivot was needed to produce a tasty burger reinvention in time.
When the clock ticked down, Bandz was chuffed with how the colours popped on his plate and believed the dish was definitely Instagrammable. The judges, though, were not swayed by visual appeal alone — taste and texture had to hit the mark as well. In that regard, Bandz’s pinwheel beef burger with a cabbage bun, sweet potato fries, avo salad and blue cheese was underwhelming.
In next week’s episode, chocolate takes centre stage, with a whopping R50,000 up for grabs. MasterChef South Africa airs on its new home on e.tv on Sundays at 18:00.