MasterChef South Africa
Lisa Kayster (26), Human Resources Consultant, Cape Town
Signature dishes: Cape Malay chicken curry, crumbed mushrooms.
Favourite heritage food: Chokka curry, boeber.
As an HR consultant, Lisa loves working with people, and especially making people happy with food. She wants to elevate Cape Malay cooking, adapted to the professional table, and merged with what she knows and loves. With positive energy and quite the orator, she started cooking at the age of 10, cooking alongside her grandmothers and her mother. The kitchen is her happy and safe space – she coped with depression and childhood bullying with her love of cooking.
A freestyle creative, she prefers to cook with what’s at hand on the day, as her secret weapon is the ability to visualise and build a flavour profile in her head. Lisa has a love for fishing: she spends a lot of time on the rocks in her own special place, catching squid in the summer months.