Masterchef 2024

When the event of the term arrived on 12 June 2024, the Woodland Heights campus came alive with friends, family, and the smell of good food filling the classrooms.

Ms DeVilliers, along with the fundraising portfolio,  successfully managed to organise this wonderful cooking event as a fundraiser for the Year 12s’ Matric Dance, and it worked extremely well. The goal was for each group formed to find a theme for their restaurant, and then cook all three courses relating to this (as well as dressing up!) and providing entertainment for the guests who had booked at their restaurant. Waiters from each restaurant were required to provide a dish from each of the courses for the judges to test, all leading up to the final finale where the best restaurant was revealed and won MasterChef aprons, as well as a celebratory dinner!

From 16:00 onwards, students began their set up – moving around the furniture, changing into themed outfits, and starting the preparation of the food. Tension ran high during the two hours before guests arrived, but when they did, most things seemed to settle into place and nerves were replaced by excitement.

At 18:00, guests arrived and were led to their restaurants, and shortly after this, they were given their delicious starters. From the Mediterranean restaurant there was freshly baked pita bread, with homemade hummus, and a variety of salady snacks accompanying this. The Quiz Night restaurant delivered sticky chicken wings with chips and mambo sauce, which even the thought of is mouth watering. The KungFu Panda restaurant gave their guests cheese spring rolls, which left the guests looking forward to what came next. During the next half an hour, students provided entertainment for the guests, whether this was music, singing or a pop quiz! Finally, the mains arrived. These dishes varied between noodles, gyros and pasta of different flavours and textures. Last was the dessert, where on the live stream there was a birthday announcement, and everyone clapped along. Options of these were affogato, tiramisu and beignets.

Throughout the evening the AV crew worked tirelessly to ensure there was a livestream in each classroom, so everyone could stay updated with the interviews which were conducted by Jemma, with Charity following close behind with the camera. In the Dungeon, Max interviewed Ms De Villiers and the judges where they had discussions about the delicious food being served as well as sharing a few jokes between them.

Earlier that evening, guests were given the opportunity to write down the names and put it into a bowl for a chance to win a food processor, and the winner was later announced by Max, kickstarting the prize giving. Now came the grand reveal of who’s restaurant was the judge’s favourite! The judges consisted of Mrs Armino, Ms Leonards, Mrs Reed and Ms Maphosa, who enjoyed tasting food from around the world all evening. The Southern Asian restaurant, run by a group of Year 12’s,  won overall due to the ambient mood set immediately when setting foot in their restaurant, as well as their outstanding preparation of dumplings and ramen. Another award was given to the Vegetarian Italian restaurant, for their best pastry meal – Spinach and ricotta ravioli – and they won a french rolling pin. Last but not least, the Princess and the Frog were rewarded for their excellent Jambalaya. 

It was a very stressful evening for the students involved behind the restaurant, but proved to be an overall pleasant experience for the friends and parents who were the guests. By 21:00 when the event came to an end, everyone was full, proud and content. I’m sure all the guests have next year to look forward to the next range of restaurants at MasterChef they can book at!

– By Kiera

Photos by Mr H

Watch the stream of the night here: