''MasterChef South Africa'' is the South African version of the television

cooking Cooking, cookery, or culinary arts is the art, science and craft of using heat to prepare food for consumption. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from grilling food over an open fire to using electric stoves, to baking in vario ...

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

franchise ''

MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with the UK version in July 1990. The format was revived and updated for the BBC in February 2005 by executive producers Roddam and John ...

''. It was originally filmed on the Nederburg Wine Estate in

Paarl, Western Cape Paarl (; Afrikaans: ; derived from ''Parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a town with 112,045 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the third-oldest city and European settlement in the Republic of South Africa (after ...

and judged by Pete Goffe-Wood, Benny Masekwameng,

Reuben Riffel Reuben Riffel (born 23 December 1974) is a South African celebrity chef, restaurateur, and media personality known for his food-focused television shows and advertisements, cookbooks and philanthropic work. Early life Reuben Riffel was born ...

and Andrew Atkinson, up to the third season. The series' first run was from March 2012 – May 2015. On 17 August 2021,

M-Net M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

announced that the show would be back for a fourth season in 2022, which kicked off on 28 February 2022. Filming was done at the V&A Waterfront in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 202 ...

with a new production company and new judges.

Format

Preliminaries

Of all the amateur chefs who audition nationwide, one hundred are chosen to cook their signature dish for the three judges. Each judge takes a taste of the dish and gives his opinion before voting a "yes" or a "no". At least two "yes" votes are required to earn a white ''

'' apron, allowing the competitor to advance.

Mystery Box challenge

In the Mystery Box challenge, contestants receive a number of ingredients of which they are to make a dish of their choice. The contestants have to use all the ingredients in the box. Once the dishes are finished, the judges taste all the dishes. The winner receives an advantage in the following elimination challenge.

Off-site team challenge

The off-site team challenge involves the contestants being split into two teams, blue and red, which consist of equal numbers and are given a task, for example, running a restaurant or catering for a party or wedding (similar to

Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British chef, restaurateur, television personality and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall; it currently holds a tot ...

's other series,

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the ea ...

). After the task has been completed, the teams are given the results, which can be determined by third party votes. Members of the losing team compete in an elimination challenge.

Pressure test

A "pressure test" challenge involves competitors who failed in a previous challenge (i.e. the three worst performers in an individual challenge or the losing team in a group challenge). The competitors are given a dish that they then must create in a particular time frame. Once the contestants have finished cooking, the dishes are taken to the judges to be tasted, who then criticize, vote and eliminate one or more contestants.

Seasons

Season 1 (2012)

The first season aired in March 2012, ending with Deena Naidoo as the winner and Sue-Ann Allen as runner-up.

Season 2 (2013)

The second season aired in June 2013, ending with

Kamini Pather Kamini Pather (born 20 April 1983) is a South African chef, food blogger, and television and radio personality. She won the second season of '' MasterChef South Africa'' in 2013 and hosted the food travel series ''Girl Eat World''. Early life a ...

as the winner and Leandri van der Wat as runner-up, while her sister Seline came third.

Season 3 (2014)

The third season of ''MasterChef South Africa'' aired its first episode on 21 August 2014. Abigail Mbalo-Mokoena was among the competitors.

Celebrity (2015)

''Celebrity MasterChef South Africa'' aired its first episode on 8 February 2015.

Season 4 (2022)

The fourth season of ''MasterChef South Africa'' was announced on 17 August 2021 and began airing on

on 28 February 2022 with 20 contestants. Shawn Godrey took the winner title leaving Andriëtte de le Harpe as the runner-up.

References

{{MasterChef

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

2012 South African television series debuts 2010s South African television series South African reality television series South African television series based on British television series