Kamini Pather wins MasterChef SA

As the final two contestants, Durbanite Kamini and Leandri from Mahikeng embarked on their final chance to show the judges what they’re made of with their first challenge; the Mystery Box.

Presented with various mystery ingredients, Kamini and Leandri had to swiftly put their thinking caps on and come up with a tasty recipe that included fennel bulbs, self-raising flower, coriander, potatoes, and Cape rock lobsters. Food blogger and radio host Kamini opted for a pasta dish, while chemistry student Leandri decided to make a soup, but her efforts took a turn for the worse when she accidentally added sugar to it!

Next up was the Invention Test, in which the two were required to make the best chicken dish they could think of. Kamini aced this challenge with a complicated chicken terrine dish she pulled off in record time, while poor Leandri had to swallow a bitter pill as the judges ruled that the chunky chutney she served with her chicken liver parfait and polenta chips was too overpowering.

In their final challenge, the Pressure Test, the two contestants had to make a type of chocolate éclair filled with peanut butter ice cream and topped with a chocolate shoelace, orange reduction, and pomegranate jelly, with the latter proving to be a tough challenge for them both.

At the end of this gruelling test, MasterChef judges Pete Goffe-Wood, Benny Masekwameng, and Andrew Atkinson named Kamini as the winner. It was a close call, though, with her 89 points out of a 100 not far from Leandri’s 83.

Kamini’s many prizes include R400 000 in cash, a year’s worth of food from Woolworths, a VW Golf 7, and a luxurious holiday in the Seychelles. She told Channel24 that she now plans on realising her dream of creating her own television show.

– TEAMtalk Media