THE new season of the award-winning TV show, The Taste Master SA: The Baking Edition, premiered recently on SABC 2.
In association with Royal Baking Powder, the reality TV show promises contestants an opportunity to battle it out to be South Africa’s next baking influencer and a chance to win R50 000.
Twelve contestants are tasked with creating culinary masterpieces based on a challenge for each round. The judges pick their favourites and one person is eliminated as the journey continues.
Two Durban-based hopefuls have made the cut.
Sohail Seegoobin, 22, was born and raised on a farm in New Glasgow, Verulam, and is no stranger to high achievements. He featured in the POST earlier this year after he won Pastry Chef of the Year in the Distell Inter Hotel Chef of the Year Challenge.
Seegoobin said food had always been a massive part of his upbringing, inspiring him to take up hospitality studies at high school and later a patisserie course at Chefs Training and Innovation Academy.
He said he found out about the Taste Master SA from his dad's friend, Thomas Dunn.
"He knows that I am passionate about baking and enjoys doing public demonstrations hence he shared the information with my dad. At first I read through the details and was reluctant to apply but then my dad convinced me to give this competition a shot.”
Seegoobin often credits his mother and paternal grandmother and the traditional foods he grew up around as his earliest influences towards his passion.
“Tradition is something that is passed down from generation to generation. Along with tradition comes food, glorious food. Food plays a huge role in our culture. However, as time goes on, people tend to shy away from making delectable and authentic treats, which their moms or extended family made. The reason being time constraints and availability of ingredients.
“That is where we, the youth, need to step in to document all those precious recipes from our moms, grandparents and extended family. We then need to adapt those recipes to the available ingredients we have around us and find the most suitable method that will save time and produce the best tasting treats we grew up eating.”
For this contest he said he aimed to share his knowledge of baking with the judges and contestants as well as learn from them.
“Every individual definitely has a trick or method that will help me in or out of the kitchen. As cliché as this may sound, I don't want this journey to end because it's a rush of adrenaline, fear, happiness, laughter and, most importantly, great lessons and master classes.”
Nqobile Ngcobo, 20, is currently doing her advanced diploma at the Durban University of Technology in Consumer Science: Food and Nutrition.
She said her late grandmother inspired almost every dish she prepared and that she loved incorporating home-grown, seasonal ingredients into her cooking and baking as a result.
“I love exploring different cultures, cuisines and nature destinations in Africa and I am extremely passionate about the fighting against food insecurity - especially when it comes to vulnerable groups like children, pregnant women, and the elderly.”
Ngcobo follows The Taste Master SA on Instagram. She said when she came across a post announcing applications for Season 2 of the baking edition, it got her excited.
“I decided to enter because I love food and I think that The Taste Master SA is a great platform for me to share my love for food and baking. Moreover, it is an opportunity for me to learn, challenge myself, be confident with my art - which is baking - be in inspiring spaces and it could mark the beginning of my foodie career.”
She said what she loved most about the old and traditional way of cooking, was that people consumed fresh, wholesome foods and a lot of protein complementation took place.
“As a result, people lived longer, and there was less strain on the health system. However, due to urbanisation, all of that richness was lost. With the urban way of cooking, the focus is more on how palatable or tasty a dish is rather than how nutritious it is. This has resulted in a lot of deficiency and lifestyle diseases, which puts a strain on the health system.
“By merging the old traditions with the new, we can consume fresh, sustainable wholesome foods but make them tasty in a way that does not negatively affect our health, for example, use less salt, sugar and fat. This will also decrease the strain on the health system. However, a lot of nutrition education still has to take place.”
Ngcobo hopes The Taste Master SA will open opportunities for her and push her towards a better version of herself.
“Moreover, I hope that my experience motivates the youth to chase their dreams. I want them to know that their dreams are valid, to never sell themselves short, to grab every opportunity that comes their way and run with it. We, the youth, are our ancestors' wildest dreams. Therefore, we ought to dream not only big enough for ourselves but for those who never had the chance to dream.”
The contestants were announced last week. They have to impress judges Zola Nene and Fritz Schoon. The first episode aired on Friday. More details here.
* The Taste Master SA: The Baking Edition airs on Friday’s at 7pm on SABC2.