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Written by If one were to look at the list of bloggers who entered the first season of Dinner Diva’s not many would have picked out Kristy Snell’s name as a finalist.
Kristy is relatively new on the blogging scene and is not as prominent as some of the foodies she competed against.
In her first sudden death cook off she found herself cooking against the very well known and established Nina Timm, for many it would have been a foregone conclusion that Nina would win comfortably. Kristy was having none of that and produced a meal equal to that of her peer. The judges were divided and the result was a tie, both of them went through to the semi finals!
That would not be the last time that Kristy would have to face Nina, in the semi finals a three way battle took place between Kristy, Nina and Janice Tripepi. It was not a sudden death cook off as for the earlier rounds, all of the contestants were being awarded points by the judges and of the seven semi finalist the top three scores would be going through to the Diner Diva finals.
This time Kristy pulled out all the stops and racked up the points to take her through to the finals leaving Nina to reflect as to how the young upstart out cooked her in the kitchen.
This is one good reason why we should have more opportunities like Dinner Divas which provide a platform for talented young people to gain more exposure.
Kristy displays a natural gift for food and has another very special talent for food styling and photography.
The Dinner Diva finalists, Kristy, Janice and Anel
Heading into the finals alongside Kristy are Janice Tripepi and Anel Potgeiter.
Janice is very experienced and well respected in the food community, she has an abundance of talent in the kitchen especially around her core speciality, Italian. She beat Thuli Gogela in her first round elimination cook off and then scored some big points in the semi finals to see her through the the last round.
Anel Potgeiter is another relative newcomer having been first noticed by MasterChef SA where she made it through to the second episode falling short on the onions and egg whisking challenges. She did not encounter any such problems on Dinner Divas as she beat Barry Gerber, the only male contestant, in her elimination round and then, like Janice, scored big in the semi’s.
MasterChef’s loss is Dinner Divas’ gain as Anel’s blog Life Is A Zoo Biscuit brings a fresh approach to food reflecting Anel’s bubbly personality.
The Dinner Diva finals will be broadcast over four episodes as they take on their most challenging kitchen tasks yet.
The judges for the finals are Aubrey Ngcungama, Caro de Waal and yours truly, Andrew Lieber. It gets a little heated with the judges on occasions as the diva’s dig their heels in.
It all makes for some great entertainment as the three fantastic foodie finalists battle it out in the challenge for the tiara!
Will Kristy surprise everyone again and produce another winning recipe, will Janice stay calm and collected, steaming in to the title or will Anel pop her champagne cork and let the bubbles flow!
Who are you rooting for?
Don’t miss Dinner Divas on SABC 2, Saturday’s 8:30.
Full episodes available on Gourmet Guys the following week for those who may have missed it!
