It’s down to the wire for Sue-Ann Allen and Deena Naidoo. But whose culinary flair will ensure they bag the title in M-Net’s ‘MasterChef SA’? While the journey has been peppered with high emotions in a pressure-cooker environment, the two finalists concur that the experience has been invaluable. On the eve of the big announcement, Debashine Thangevelo found out if the nerves have turned them into jelly, or if they are keeping as cool as a cucumber...
SUE-ANN ALLEN, 30
Lighting designer from Woodstock, Cape Town
IN fighting for a spot in the Top 2, Allen decided to replicate Franschhoek restaurant Le Quartier Français’s celebrated chef Margot Janse’s beetroot sponge and spinach purée with buttermilk labne and dill and cucumber granita dish. And she nailed it.
Reflecting on her journey, Allen says: “Even though I was with a company that had most of my heart, a part of me was always reserved for food.
“When ‘MasterChef SA’ started advertising, my friends said: ‘You have to enter.’
“When you have a passion for something you would have possibly gone with, that sits inside you. They say when an opportunity comes, you grab it. And sometimes, you have to risk it all to give it all.”
For Allen, the objective to make it as far as possible in the competition was clear-cut from the outset: “I’m a firm believer in visualising one’s goal and I entered with that frame of mind.”
She says “self-trust and self-belief” are what helped her overcome the hurdles.
She explains: “Whenever I trusted myself and had a clear picture, everything went smoothly. But when I had any doubt, it would go pear-shaped. Every time, you have to know how badly you want it.
“There are technical difficulties, but you have to remember why you are doing it.
“One of the most difficult challenges was cooking a 12-hour lamb. I remember chef Benny (Masekwameng) was asking me questions and I was in tears when I started cooking. It was the most difficult, but also the most rewarding challenge.”
On choosing a recipe that proved beneficial at a crucial stage in the competition, Allen says: “All of us chose dishes that would be challenging to us. I thought the quail and the dessert would be easy for me. I wanted to do something that involved whisking – something that was quick and light as I’m always heavy-handed.”
Win or lose, what is her game plan going forward?
“Let’s talk win first,” she urges. “It will give me the opportunity of running the MondoVino Restaurant for two years. The biggest advantage would be getting to train and learn in a professional environment. And the staff and the kitchen is sorted.
“If I’m the runner-up, that just means I will have to work a little harder. Do a little more leg work in setting myself up.
“At the end of the day, I want to work with food and people. And I would love to have my own cooking show.”
DEENA NAIDOO, 45
IT Specialist from KZN
YOU are never too old to follow your dreams or discover new things about yourself – that is what Naidoo realised during his time on ‘MasterChef SA’.
The father of three says: “I’ve cooked all my life, basically for as long as I can remember. And I have followed the Australian and British MasterChef series. When I entered, it was to acknowledge my lifelong passion for food.”
Although he had to tap into his annual leave to be able to participate in the show, being away from his family for such a long period was a struggle.
“You just need to be driven and to focus. I knew I had a lifetime of preparation behind me,” he says.
One of Naidoo’s key objectives has been to defy stereotypes with his dishes.
“I knew it was important to know SA culture and cooking. I was ready for just about anything on that front. I just wasn’t ready for the emotional obstacles and disappointment. My worst was in episode 12 when I did the passion hazelnut gateau. I was in the bottom three and said to myself that I didn’t come here to lose. I promised myself when I came into the kitchen that I’d reset my mind. But I walked into the challenge on an all-time low.
I couldn’t get over the fact that I was in the bottom three. The turning point was when Andrew (Atkinson) came to me and asked what I would do if I were to ‘Go home today!’ That was my trigger to kick into action,” he shares.
On the flip side, Naidoo says cooking for Michel Roux was a highlight.
“The dish that made me the proudest was the one I plated for Michel. He comes from the finest pedigree of chefs in the world. For me to do a dish he acknowledged and respected… I could have gone home happy.”
In choosing to make a baobab pear parfait with pistachio crumble, honey jelly and mango gel, Naidoo says it was technically challenging, but he wanted to make something that would prove he deserved to be in the finals.
While he awaits his fate tomorrow night, an optimistic Naidoo says he would like to, should he win, “have a menu that is representative of the nation we live in. There are far too many Indian restaurants”.
“Like Gordon Ramsay, I believe in simplicity, where there should be no more than three or four components on a plate. I don’t like clutter.”
Come tomorrow night, viewers will get to see the Top 2 finalists receive a five-star pampering session as well as, in a switch of roles, enjoy a dinner prepared by the judges at the MondoVino Restaurant before they are swiftly whisked back to Cape Town where a gastronomic cook-off session is in on the cards.
Seducing the taste buds of the judges is crucial, but it remains to be seen who has the perfect flavour, texture and, ultimately, the winning dish to see them clinch the sought-after title of ‘MasterChef SA’.
The ’MasterChef SA’ finale airs on M-Net at 7.30pm tomorrow.