Image: Charlie Sperring

by Jan-Hendrik Botha

And then there were thirteen. In a fiery episode seven, our contestants took part in a spicy pressure challenge. One by one, each had to choose a number, indicating the type of chilli they would need to use as a hero ingredient in their dish. 

Our judges were looking for “phenomenal depth of flavour” in a dish, sweet or savoury, where chilli would be the hero but not limited by it. Twelve of our cooks were cooking while one, individual immunity winner Charmaine, watched from the side. 

From the get-go, the MasterChef SA kitchen was “hot, hot, hot” with local flavours filling the room. Different textures of pap and shisanyama-inspired South African street food were cooked up, and our Twitter viewers loved it. 

Getting started, our contestants scrambled: Tembisa hit a complete blank, Sims had never cooked with chilli before, and while Andriette was in two minds about whether she should go savoury or sweet, Tembisa was still running around with “the whole of Asia” in her basket.

 
Onti added a South African twist to her jalapeño dish.

Her chilli con carne with pap tortilla chips and jalapeño and chilli salsa not only impressed our judges but had South Africa’s mouths watering. 

At first, James felt comfortable preparing what he knew best. Although he was very confident with his South African street food-inspired peri-peri chicken wings with pap four ways, unfortunately, it left the judges unimpressed. 




And just like that, James’s journey in the MasterChef SA kitchen came to an end – and Twitterati was gutted seeing him leave.

Here’s what he had to say after leaving the kitchen:


Can you bring the heat in your kitchen? Show us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by using #MasterChefSA. Remember to watch MasterChef SA every Monday to Thursday at 18:00 on M-Net channel 101. In case you missed the latest episode, catch up with DStv using your connected device.