She was afraid her youth would get her eliminated from MasterChef SA Season 5, but 20-year-old Bridget Mangwandi cooked her way to a R1m win and became the youngest winner in the history of the franchise.
“I didn’t think my age was a big deal until I realised other people thought it was a big deal and then it began to eat at me a bit because I thought I might go home just because of that.”
But she didn’t go home until she’d blown the judges’ taste buds in the finale last week with her apricot kingklip and Italian meringue with choux pastry inside short-crust pastry and an Amarula filling, and won the money.
The finale was shot six months ago but Mangwandi was back on set in Cape Town’s Atlantic Studios earlier this week for the launch of Celebrity MasterChef, where The Weekender caught up with her.
Also at the party were some of the celebrities who can be seen in the six-week-long spin-off of the popular S3 show including songwriter Holly Rey, Afrikaans actor Armand Aucamp, Bafana Bafana midfielder Reneilwe “Yeye” Letsholonyane, Expresso presenter Graeme Richards, and radio and television star Dineo Ranaka.
While judges Justine Drake, Zola Nene and Chef Katlego Mlambo will once again scrutinise all the celebrities’ culinary creations, the spin-off will be served with format twists.
The Celebrity MasterChef champion will share the R1m prize pot with a charity of their choice, with each receiving R500,000.
Also, the 12 high-flyers will be divided into groups of three to put their hearts on their plates in the series’ first four episodes.
The winner of each of these heats will then proceed to the semifinal. The last two celebs standing will face off in the finale.
Weekender asked SA’s new MasterChef SA Season 5 winner:
Q: What was it like to win?
A: Winning MasterChef was such an incredible experience. Watching the episode was really crazy. I would not change the experience for anything. I’m really honoured to represent a lot of people and show my face in the food industry, so it’s really been so exciting for me.
Q: What does it feel like being back in the studios and the MasterChef kitchen after six months?
A: I have goosebumps. But I also have that feeling of wow, I really did it. I came and I conquered. I’m happy.
Q: What have you been doing since the finale was filmed?
A: I went back to varsity which didn’t really work out because the University of the Free State wasn’t supportive about it at all. On the morning of the final they said you are going to repeat the entire year.
I was crying and my makeup was not make-upping and my hair was not hairing but I was just like ‘let’s go and kill this thing’. It was an all or nothing thing at this point because now I could even lose my bursary. I was so heartbroken that morning. I had to put it out of my mind and just cook!
Q: So what happened with your consumer science studies?
A: I went back to finish the last modules of the semester and then decided to transfer to Unisa to continue the same degree. I have one more year and then my honours.
Q: What are your plans for the R1m prize?
A: First I need to invest it and once the money grows to a lot of money, I want to put it towards cooking shows and brand deals — all the things I really want to do in the culinary world.
Q: Would you consider opening a restaurant?
A: No, not an everyday thing, just an occasional pop-up because I still want to keep that passion alive. I still want to have an adrenaline rush, something I enjoy. And I would really love a cooking show.
Q: What would make your cooking show different to others?
A: I want to be as authentically me as possible. How I encourage people, especially the younger generation. I was once encouraged to cook and then to go on TV so having another Bridget watch me and think ‘oh, I have this and that in the fridge I can create different things’.
The show would involve different cultures to show the fusions that we all interpret in our different cultures. We don’t even know what another country cooks but we have those ingredients, so getting that food into your kitchen is what I aim to do.
Q: What SA dishes would you feature?
A: Ooh, South African! The final meal I cooked in the finale was the apricot kingklip*. It was my favourite. The oxtail, the goat meat dishes I did … and then blending them with the Caribbean and West African flavours is something I would really enjoy.
Q: I believe you lived in the Eastern Cape when you were young?
A: Yes, and maybe that’s why I love Xhosa food. I lived in Despatch for a while. I was at Susannah Fourie Primary for grade 6 and 7 and I was the head girl in grade 7! I was living with my mum and she would commute to PE. She was a lecturer at PE College.
At the time, I was already cooking at home but I didn’t yet know that cooking would be my thing. I started cooking when I was seven. I was making bolognese, pastas and baking pastries. I really wanted to help my mum because she was waking up at 4am and getting home in the evening and I had to time to cook because I got home from school at 3.30pm, so I thought, let me cook and that was how it started.
I wanted to help and I really liked it but at first she didn’t like it because I was a child and she didn’t think I should have this chore. But I didn’t see it as a chore. I was curious and I was really good at natural science and I would Google substitutes in recipes and so that is where that love for food science came into play.
Q: What do you do for a living now?
A: I do content creating. I used to do a bit of catering in my gap year and last year at university and now I’m going to be on MasterChef — I really want to continue that. I would love to be a judge on a lovely African challenge …
Q: What are your Christmas plans?
A: I think my mum and I will take a lovely trip — somewhere where there’s a beach. Maybe Cape Town or Mauritius. Maybe even Asia because I really want to try a giant Alaskan king crab. That is one of my dreams. Maybe for Christmas, maybe for New Year.
Q: What is usually on the menu at Christmas time?
A: We normally do seafood or chicken. It’s just a regular braai. I’ve only done turkey once because we had a huge family gathering. If another family or friends suggest a joint Christmas then we go all out, but otherwise it’s just another day and we have a great meal or we go shopping or something. We don’t do presents — we spoil each other all the time.
• Celebrity MasterChef started on S3 on Saturday November 30 at 8.30pm, with rebroadcasts on SABC2 on Sundays at 6.30pm and S3 on Wednesdays at 6pm.
Weekender
