MasterChef South Africa

Sylvie Hurford (49), Marketing Strategist and Consultant, Cape Town

Signature dishes: Greek lamb with skordalia, fresh hake with rustic mash, and green beans in anchovy butter.

Favourite heritage food: vetkoek with butter, apricot jam and boerewors; krummelpap with a smoorsous.

The self-confessed cavalier cook previously worked as a food stylist and her goal is to let food taste as good as it looks. Sylvie sees herself as a food version of a musician playing by ear – she can cook by taste. Her default is Mediterranean and French cooking.

Describing her food style as ‘gonzo’, cooking has always represented freedom and self-sufficiency for Sylvie. Growing up, she used to come home from school and cook things up for herself. Her heroes include Anthony Bourdain, British chef and restaurateur Marco Pierre White and South African chef and restaurateur Karen Dudley.