Siphokazi Mdlankomo

About

South African chef, television host, cookbook author, and food content creator known for finishing as the runner-up on MasterChef South Africa season 3 in 2014. She is also known for hosting her own cooking show Let's Eat with Siphokazi on Mzansi Magic as well as being known for her work as a Pick n Pay brand ambassador, private chef, and recipe developer.

Before fame

She finished school at St Cuthberts Secondary and briefly studied Fashion Design in 1995 at a technikon in the Eastern Cape. She realized that cooking was her true passion. She moved to Cape Town in 2001 after the birth of her son in search of better opportunities. She worked there as a domestic worker with cooking becoming a main part of her daily responsibilities. She taught herself new recipes and techniques and watched cooking shows while preparing meals to improve her skills. She began entering cooking competitions such as a Leisure Magazine competition in 2010 and the Kia Cook-Off in 2012. Her big breakthrough came in 2014 when she competed on MasterChef South Africa where she advanced to the final and finished as runner-up.

Trivia

She contributed to The Great South African Cookbook in 2016. She is the author of the cookbooks My Little Black Recipe Book and Let's Eat with Siphokazi. Her MasterChef South Africa appearance helped launch her career in the food and media industry. She started her own cooking show Let's Eat with Siphokazi in 2016.

Family life

She was born in Tsolo in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, and before eventually moving to Cape Town, South Africa. She developed an early love for cooking by helping her mother and grandmother prepare meals including baking traditional dishes over an open fire. She is a mother.

Associated with

She competed on MasterChef South Africa which was judged and co-hosted by Reuben Riffel during her season.