By Colleen Dardagan
On Easter Sunday, macadamia nuts were the star of the show for the 20 chefs battling it out for the R1 million award on SA Masterchef 2026.
In the episode, contestants were tasked with creating delicious plant-based meals suitable for a modern vegetarian café. Each team had to include macadamia nuts and macadamia oil in a minimum of three dishes aimed at highlighting the nut’s nutritious profile, buttery flavour and crunch.
Profiling the nut as a central ingredient on the show is part of a marketing drive by the industry to educate the public on how to use the oil and kernel beyond just a snack.
Lizel Pretorius, CEO of the South African macadamia representative body SAMAC, said the benefits of the airing included reaching a food-led, aspirational audience more likely to trial premium ingredients in their cooking.
“This integration was deeper than profiling macadamias in a generic advertisement. Macadamias were named and used repeatedly across multiple dishes, demonstrating their versatility.”
She said she believed the exposure would stimulate domestic demand as well as the broader value chain from growers to processors.
Dishes which included macadamia nuts on the show included:
Roasted aubergine on a macadamia yoghurt labneh and harissa butter
Millet tabbouleh with pomegranate molasses, apple, fennel and macadamia crusted goat’s cheese
Braised leeks with amaranth and macadamia crumb, tempura aubergine and macadamia oil confit tomato
Smashed cucumber salad with macadamia oil yoghurt, sumac red onions and macadamia nuts
Roasted pumpkin in macadamia oil topped with roasted macadamia nuts and cinnamon
Sorghum flatbread in macadamia oil
Grilled peaches with whipped sour cream, cream cheese, peach glaze, macadamia nuts and mulberries
Roasted carrots with macadamia and curry leaf dukkah
Stone fruit and macadamia nut crumble with Chantilly cream.
