Starters

“Welcome to Bootcamp.”

The 50 contestants who had made it through from episode 1 and 2 found themselves on the tarmac at Swartkops Air Force base. A helicopter whirred down, and out stepped their three judges: Andrew Atkinson, Benny Masekwameng, and Pete Goffe-Wood (in a jaunty pork-pie hat). Straight off, the contestants faced their first skills test. A military truck rolled up and disgorged more than a hundred bags of potatoes. Andrew ran his finger warningly over a sharp blade. 1.5kgs of spuds had to be peeled by each person – with a knife! – so that 1cm x 1cm x 5-7cm perfectly uniform chips could be cut from them. Only the top 35 chippie-makers would retain their aprons. And there was to be a second skills test in quick succession, to eliminate another ten contestants.

Mains 

”Bootcamp is tough.”

It was upsetting to see contestants who had previously produced intricate dishes struggling with this seemingly simple task. The men were distinctly tardier and bloodier. Among the 15 that really had their chips, it was sad to see Zahir, the first contestant of episode 1, among them.

The second contest, inside the hangar, entailed using one of the most common South African heritage ingredients. The mealie had to be the hero, in one form or another, in a meal that took 60 minutes to produce. Available ingredients were mealie meal, polenta, maize rice and pasta, and popcorn, as well as a pantry of accompaniments with which the contestants armed themselves. The judges noticed a flurry of fritters being produced, sagely agreeing that to be overly adventurous might not be the best plan for the contestants right then. Still, Benny hoped for a risotto-style meal utilising a few cheeses, Andrew for tortillas, tamales or something Mexican with bacon, and Pete for a stirring soup.

Dessert

“Fight to stay in the kitchen.”

What the three judges got, however, were overcooked pasta, undercooked polenta, good croquettes, cinnamon popcorn (Pete: “It doesn’t make sense!”), badly plated lumpy food (Pete again: “It looks like vomit – I can’t.”), a Thai soup, one mealie rice dish (to Benny’s delight), chilli galore, many fritters, some tortillas and then Herman’s dish. It was a multi-textured, colourful Mexican feast that included steamed tamales. Though it was not perfectly steamed, the judges were excited. Their taste buds popped at last. Herman was not among the 15 to be “honourably discharged”, although perky and pink-haired Monkey was.

Remaining in the 25 to fight another round were the purple-haired extrovert, and Joani, the re-entrant who’d failed her Bootcamp in season 1. I looked hard for molecular-gastronomy Ian and the two sisters, but might have missed them in one of the bustles.

Tonight’s culinary battles will take last night’s 25 down to a mere 16 survivors!

By Marie-Lais Emond
Photographs: M-Net x 3, Tim Sackton, the judges, Sethoscope

Tune in on Thursday morning for a run-down of Wednesday’s episode, and check out our MasterChef SA page, sponsored by Nederburg, for weekly updates.