From critic to champion: Seth Shezi's journey on 'Celebrity MasterChef South Africa’
Fashion icon Seth Shezi won the second special “Celebrity MasterChef South Africa” edition on S3 a week ago.
When I called him to chat about his victory a few days later, he was still on cloud nine trying to wrap his head around pulling off such a culinary feat.
Shezi, who is admirably grounded, confident, funny and engaging, admitted that he didn’t enter the popular cooking show with a competitive mindset.
In the six-part reality show, the KZN-born brand strategist and creative director of Obsidian Studio emerged victorious in several kitchen battles alongside industry heavyweights such as singer-songwriter Holly Rey, actor Armand Aucamp, “Expresso” presenter Graeme Richards, pharmacist-turned-social-media sensation, Sinoyolo Sifo, and television personality and restaurateur, Prim Reddy.
That’s not forgetting Miss SA runner-up and Miss Supranational South Africa 2023, Ayanda Thabethe, Bafana Bafana midfielder Reneilwe “Yeye” Letsholonyane, actor Bohang Moeko, rock musician and poet, Danie du Toit, fashion trendsetter Mzukisi Mbane and radio and television personality, Dineo Ranaka.
It came down the wire to Ranaka and Shezi and he was delighted to add a feather to his cap.
Shezi admitted: “It feels like a wild thing to get a prize for something that you love so much. I tell everyone, I would have done it for free. I love food, I love the idea of cooking and I love the industry, so it feels like the cherry on top to actually be awarded for it.”
Strangely enough, he didn’t immediately give the nod to being a contestant on the show.
He explained: “In some roundabout way, I did say no. A lot of what I do on a daily basis is consulting with restaurants. I am a critic. I’ve judged restaurant platforms around the world. So I know what good cooking looks like and I basically have to critique it all the time based on just my palate alone.
“When they approached me, my inner child was dying as was like, yes, you have to do this because I was obsessed with ‘MasterChef like everyone else.
“But I felt that it would be so exposing and I know the fallout of being on TV under pressure, you might burn an egg or something very basic. And then what does that do to your credibility when you have to review a restaurant or go to a Michelin-star restaurant? I was thinking there’s too much at stake.
However, he was swayed by the casting director, production crew and the fact that it would be for his favourite charity, Ladles of Love.
He added: “It’s such a small charity that people take it for granted but what over half a million is going to do for them, it was worth it, even if I had to embarrass myself.”
A perfectionist when it comes to cooking and plating, his painstaking attention to detail and flavour made him a threat from the get-go.
He laughed: “I had been in London and had to fly down for the show. I came with one outfit because I believed I was shooting one episode, one heat, against celebrities, and thought I would fly back. It was just like, if you are going to put it on a plate, it has to taste right as you are cooking for Katlego Mlambo, Justine Drake and Zola Nene.
“Afterwards, I kept struggling to find more outfits to wear because I kept winning and progressing in the competition but we worked it out in the end.”
Shezi was a riot when he reflected on his love affair with food.
“It started from a very young age. My parents were busy finishing their degrees when they just had me. I lived with my grandmothers a lot, especially on my dad’s side.
“I used to watch her farm all her produce from her little garden and then go pick it up when it was in season and make it herself. I think it created a very unique relationship with produce for me as a kid, knowing where it comes from.
“Because I had that sort of understanding of ingredients, I always liked food because what you do with it is more often an appreciation of the produce so you have to treat it right, make something special.
“And it carried over. I’m the eldest of five siblings. When I was growing up, I had to look after them and that required making random meals for them. I always took pleasure in it but there were a lot of disasters.
“My siblings can tell you stories for days. There were times when they had to eat curries when the potatoes were raw. As an 11-year-old, I didn’t know that potatoes cook at a different time than tomatoes.
“Growing up in Durban, the amount of curries I had to make because that flavour would work for everyone ... You know when a curry has raw spices, now I know that you have to cook it down.
“Back then, I would boil things and just add however much curry powder and, it if smelled right, it was going.”
Shezi also recalled another faux pas.
“One time, I still don’t know how we didn’t burn the house down because of the amount of oil we used to make amagwinya (vetkoek), and I don’t think I cooked the dough right.
“My siblings, who were my guinea pigs of note, were full for the next 24 hours. They literally didn’t want to eat anything. The yeast was probably still growing inside of them. They endured a lot.”
Of course, the trial and error paid off as he whipped up a three-course meal with the confidence of Food Network’s Michael Voltaggio, who is celebrated for his molecular gastronomy.
Shezi laughed: “So what you see now where I’m able to make this quasi molecular smoking things and flambé, it has a huge story arch from disaster to triumph.”
What’s next for the creative polymath, who splits his time between Cape Town and London?
He shared: “I treat myself as a ship, not a boat so I don’t make quick turns. I tend to steer myself gently throughout the course because everything that I do, I live in this very comfortable space of balancing my lifestyle with my work and I can’t jitter around and change as and when things happen.
“This has been an incredible opportunity and I’m going to use it to further enhance the things that I was planning on doing. One of those things is working on a cookbook and one of those ideas is working on a pop-up restaurant, multiple pop-ups actually, at places where I have a really good relationship with the chef.
“Lastly, I’m planning on bringing it back to a charitable angle because we are in the age now of collaboration and it's the reign of femoral experiences. No one wants anything too long-term. People want the novelty of it being new now while it’s exciting. Add a charitable angle to it … and boom.
“I want to invite chefs from around the world and get involved with some of the cooking and some of that will go towards charity. It also shows the relationship between luxury and giving back.”