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MasterChef's Manisha misses the mark

Cape Town - Manisha Naidu's MasterChef dreams are over.

The 29-year-old housewife from Johannesburg narrowly missed out on a spot in the MasterChef SA finale due to a messy plate and an inaccurate replication of a dish.

In Tuesday's episode the final three contestants visited Le Quartier Francais in Franschhoek and enjoyed one of Chef Margot Janse's tasting menus.

They were then asked to choose a dish which best suited their personal cooking style and philosophy, and were tasked with recreating it.

Sue-Ann chose the beetroot sponge filled with an onion and spinach pureé, served on a labné of buttermilk, cucumber and dill granita and a dusting of buchu.

Manisha took on the main course of a crown of quail served with a liquorice glaze, baby fennel, grilled porcini mushrooms, a crumble and a purée of onion and liquorice root.

Deena tried his hand at the dessert, a pear and baobab parfait served with a salted mango gel, caramelised honey jellies and pistachio nut crumble.

Shortcomings

Chef Margot and Chefs Andrew, Bennie and Pete all tasted the dishes. While Margot was impressed with the way they handled the task under the pressure of a 90-minute time limit, there were however some shortcomings.

Sue-Ann's beetroot was under-seasoned while Manisha's fennel was stringy, her plate wasn't well presented and she forgot the pea shoots.

Deena's flavours were praised, but his parfait was too dense.

Food24's Chef Caro de Waal said she was "stunned" at how well these amateur chefs performed under pressure.

In the end Manisha fell short of the finale.

Finale

The MasterChef SA finale, featuring Sue-Ann and Deena, will air in a special 90-minute episode on Tuesday 24 July at 19:30.

The finale has been pre-recorded at the MasterChef kitchen at Nederburg, but will also feature a live element from the MondoVino restaurant at Sun Square in Montecasino.

This is the restaurant which the winner will have the opportunity to run.

Who is your favourite finalist to take the title - Deena or Sue-Ann? Let us know your thoughts! E-mail us and you could be published.

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