Marco spices up reality TV.
Hillcrest resident shares how he won on an episode of Come Dine With Me SA.
MARCO Minietti , a Hillcrest resident, recently won an episode of the BBC entertainment reality television show, Come Dine With Me SA.The show, which aims to find the ultimate dinner party host, required contestants to entertain and dine their competitors with a three-course meal they prepared themselves. The competitors are then required to judge the each other’s culinary and hosting skills.
In episode three of season three Minietti was pitted against three other Durban residents for the grand prize of R10 000.
Minietti decided to enter the competition because of his passion for food and cooking.
“I am Italian and my family revolves around food, therefore food and cooking is a big part of who I am. I also wanted to see if I could win. It was an exciting challenge,” said Minietti .
According to Minietti he had never had any professional hosting or culinary experience before the show. He would mainly cook for his friends and relatives, as it is a way of socialising for his family.
“My wife, Siobhan, was in the hospitality industry and she had studied cooking. She has always been the primary chef in our home. She was my guide and my muse during the trials, prior to the show,” said Minietti.
The amateur chef practiced various recipes and consulted his mother and wife for advice during the trials leading up to the competition.
“I worked hard. I did not want to let my friends, family or the Hillcrest community down. I know whenever I watched the show, I would find myself cheering for the Hillcrest contestants,” said Minietti.
According to Minietti the most difficult part of the experience was being separated from Siobhan and his two sons. The four contestants were occupied for four consecutive days filled with filming, interviews and preparations for their respective hosting opportunities.
“It has also been difficult to wrap my head around the idea of being recognised. People act weird when they recognise me in public, but overall it was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime, experience. It was also a blessing in the sense that I became good friends with the other competitors. We have kept in touch through a group chat on Whatsapp. The four of us have tried to meet up since the competition, but it has been difficult,” said Minietti.
When Minietti is not cooking or enjoying precious moments with his family, he runs a family business with his brother.
