Online entries for the second season of South Africa’s extreme outdoor reality cooking competition, Ultimate Braai Master, closed on Friday, 15 February with over 4000 contestants entering from across South Africa.
Sponsored by Pick n Pay and supported by Coca-Cola, Standard Bank and Renault Koleos, 250 braai hopefuls have been short listed from the thousands of entries to compete for a place in the Reality TV competition via one of four regional Audition events scheduled to take place in Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg during March.
Bronwen Rohland, Pick n Pay’s Marketing and Sustainability Director said:
As family brand with a proud history of supporting “local”, Pick n Pay is delighted to extend its’ headline sponsorship of the Ultimate Braai Master into a second season, highlighting the tremendous talent, culinary creativity and ingenuity that exists amongst our country’s amateur and semi-professional cooks.
The Competition provides an original and entertaining platform to showcase two quintessentially South African passions – braaiing with friends and family in the great outdoors. Stocked with our diverse range of fresh, sustainable and locally sourced products, this year’s Braai Master challengers will be supported in their mission by the Pick n Pay Pantry, which also features SASSI Green List seafood.
After the whirlwind culinary journey and new braai-inspired benchmarks that were established in Season One, Ultimate Braai Master 2013 promises to push more boundaries and venture even further off-road to uncover those undiscovered location gems and rough diamond bush cooks who have what it takes to win this year’s title of SA’s Ultimate Braai Master.”
Ultimate Braai Master Regional Auditions are not open to the public, and will take place at the following closed venues across the country:
- CAPE TOWN: 2 & 3 March 2013, the V & A Waterfront, Gateway Canal
- DURBAN: 9 & 10 March 2013, The King’s Park Stadium, Fan Outer Field KP7
- PORT ELIZABETH: 16 & 17 March 2013, the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
- JOHANNESBURG: 23 & 24 March 2013, the Indaba Hotel, Fourways
Supported by sponsors and media partners, SABC 3, Metrofm and YOU, Huisgenoot and Drum magazines; gourmet bush cook and veteran presenter, Justin Bonello and Ultimate Braai Master judges, Executive Chefs Bertus Basson and Marthinus Ferreira will be teaming up with local foodies and celebrities to assess the braai talent on display at each Audition, before announcing the final 15 competing teams in April.
Ultimate Braai Master host, Justin Bonello said:
Our aim when we launched Ultimate Braai Master last year was to raise the standard and shatter the stereotypes around the kinds of meals that can be prepared on the braai. Last year’s contestants and winners, Laertes Melidonis and Elaine Ensor-Smith from Who Dares Wins, helped to redefine the category while inspiring a new set of Braai Master contenders in 2013. While we anticipated a decline in Season Two entrants due to the two month road trip, high standard and gruelling braai challenges that were thrown at contestants in our first Season, we’ve been thrilled by the calibre and diversity of this year’s entrants! This year’s contenders may have the benefit of foresight, but they better be prepared for the new challenges that Judges and taskmasters, Bertus and Marthinus have in store for them!
Filming starts in May with the 13-part TV Series launching on SABC 3 on Wednesday 18 September 2013 at 8.30pm. The show will culminate in a cook-off between the top three teams on 11 December, with the 2013 winner walking away with the title; R500 000 in cash; and a new Renault Koleos 4×4 valued at R340 000, including a 5 year 100 000km service plan, a 5 year 150 000km mechanical warranty plus accessories.