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Cape Town – In the first semi-final of My Kitchen Rules SA, best friends Kerry and Charnell cooked off against Brent and Andrew.
BrenDrew as they call themselves were eliminated after their dishes failed to impress the judges.
From the outset, Brent and Andrew’s offering fell short of the mark, with their starter of deep fried camembert on walnuts and an apple puree being too unbalanced for the guest judges, who were blind tasting all of the culinary creations.
When it came to their main meal, judges David Higgs and J’Something were immediately concerned that Brent and Andrew had left too little time to cook their potatoes for their dish of deconstructed Beef Wellington, however, by the time it came to the tasting, guest judge Lentswe Bhengu noted how delicious their potatoes were.
The teams were neck-and-neck going into the dessert phase of the challenge, and Brent and Andrew’s chocolate fondant with chili nut ice-cream left everyone on the edge of their seats due to the time restraint in which to create the dish. With only seconds to spare, the guys managed to pull off the ambitious dessert, which received a glowing 10 out of 10 from all of the judges.
But their full marks weren’t enough to score them a win as the judges scored them 38 out of 60 points while Kerry and Charnell received a whopping 44 points out of 60.
We had a quick chat with the couple about their My Kitchen Rules journey and find out the story behind the Sports Guy Chest Bump.
What was it like watching Sunday's semi-final episode and reliving it?
Watching the show on Sunday was absolutely exhilarating. Our home was full of friends who had come to support us. It’s really surreal to think that our MKRSA adventure is over but what an amazing experience. We are so thankful to have been part of such an incredible South African production.
If you had your time in the kitchen again for the semi-final, what would you do differently?
If we could do the semi-final over, we would have taken the time to understand what the judges were really looking for. They all have different tastes and different opinions and ultimately we could have learnt from that. Simple things like adding a little more apple puree to the starter or more mushrooms to the main would have made a massive difference. And we would have tested the ice-cream machine before as it just worked so differently to what we are used to.
How has your cooking changed since being on the show?
The show has been an amazing learning experience and we have grown leaps and bounds with our cooking skills. Learning from Chef David Higgs and J’Something has been one of the most incredible bucket list opportunities. We prep and season our food completely differently now and our flavour palette when eating out has become a little more critical too.
What were your favourite and least favourite challenges?
Our favourite challenge was definitely “Street Food”. We had the best time cooking our Turkish Kebabs and the people absolutely loved them. The stand was never empty and we landed up cooking 80 more portions than necessary as they just kept coming back for more. Our least favourite was the "Pizza challenge”. It was a really tough day. First day in "Kitchen HQ” and we were sent to the zoo to feed hundreds of guests pizza that we had to make on a braai. I am not sure what the judges were thinking when they came up with that one, but it was definitely super tough.
What’s the story behind your Sports Guy Chest bump?
We don’t even remember how the "Sports Guy Chest Bump” started but it’s something we do that’s more funny than anything else and even though it’s like a fist-bump, it makes us and everyone around us laugh. We’ve been together for 10 years already and it's silly things like the Sports Guy Chest Bump that remind us to always have fun with each other.
What cooking shows do you like to watch?
Diners Drivers & Dives is one of our favourites, we love the spontaneous natural format that really explores great food and great chefs with great stories behind them. Food is all about the story and the journey and we think Triple D perfectly captures that balance.
What’s next for BrenDrew?
There are a few pop up restaurant events in the pipeline where we will get to cook food we love, with people we love, for people we love and of course open to the public. And we’re shooting a pilot episode early next year of a great South African food trip, centred around showcasing our beautiful country’s hidden gems. Plus Brent has started a recipe series on GoodThingsGuy.com which he’s hoping will someday turn into a #BrenDrew cook book.
Tune in for all the food drama Sundays at 18:00 on M-Net (DStv 101).
(Photos supplied: M-Net)
