country’s biggest stars showed off their culinary skills in spectacular style at this year’s White Star Celebrity Cook-Off. The sixth edition of the competition took place on the 16th of September 2017 and returned to The Ridge Casino in Witbank. The country’s favourite personalities put on their chef’s hats and sharpened their knives in the White Star kitchen. In the end, team captain Lerato Sengadi and her crew, Miranda Mokhele, Mduduzi Mabaso as well as Khumbul’eKhaya presenter Andile Galesiwe impressed the judges with their appetizing dishes and walked away as the White Star Celebrity Cook-Off 2017 champions.
Lucia Mthiyane And Abdul Khoza
The hand-picked celebrities were divided into five groups, and then tasked to come up with a team name. Some of the teams even went as far as to create a team war cry – a sure sign that they were ready for the kitchen wars! Teams were given a mystery box of ingredients to create a delicious starter and main meal, incorporating South Africa’s favourite maize meal, White Star, as the staple on each plate. With less than two hours of cooking time, each team enthusiastically got to work, filling the outdoor kitchen with wonderful aromas, whetting the judges’ appetites.
Amongst the competing celebrities were:
• Andile Gaelesiwe
• Pallance Dladla
• Manaka Ranaka
• Zweli Dube
• Gift Mokhaphanyane
• Thuli Thabethe
• Wanda Baloyi
• Thandy Matlaila
Nolly Meje, from Isidingo, who was part of the winning team in 2016, was also present to defend her title. She took charge as team captain with new members in her team, including Generations actress, Manaka Ranaka, Thuli Thabethe from The Queen and Zweli Dube from Muvhango. In the end, after a tight competition they took a close second place in the cook-off.
“The annual White Star Celebrity Cook-Off has been a success since we started six years ago and this year was no exception. The invited celebrities embraced the experience and brought their enthusiasm and team spirit to the cook-off, evident in the standard and creativity that was produced on the plates,
Award winning comedian and Kaya FM presenter, Skhumba Hlope, was the event MC and kept the crowd in stiches throughout the day. Celebrity chef, Lucia Mthiyane and The Ridge Executive Chef, Dagnay Sebogo had the difficult task of choosing the winning dishes from the various wonderful creations produced. Radio legend and music veteran Bob Mabena threw it back to old school kwaito, and got the guests sweating it out on the dance floor.
Manaka Ranaka
There was an exciting addition to this year’s competition – an amazing all-expenses paid trip to Mauritius for two celebrities for six days. To win, all they had to do was flex their fingers on their phones and tweet about #WhiteStarCelebrityCookOff. In the end, Dr Musa Mthombeni and Akhumzi Jezile won this trip of a lifetime, courtesy of White Star.
Judge Lucia Mthiyane says, “I was very impressed with the dishes produced by the celebrities, especially the main courses. They brought their A-game and produced plates with bold and delicious flavours. It was evident that they planned and thought-out their meals, which is key if you want to produce a beautiful plate of food. They were very innovative, each team brought White Star maize meal to life in a diverse way.” Chef Dagnay concludes that “all the teams had a great vibe, there was lots of laughter, singing and team work. That is what food is about, bringing people together.”
