Popular food content creator and home cook Chanel Brink made her debut as a contestant in season 5 of “MasterChef South Africa” on S3.
While she is no stranger to cooking and sharing her food journey on social media, making some of her favourite dishes on national television is a completely different ball game, she said.
Coming from a generation of foodies, Brink’s love for food began at a very young age.
“My grandparents owned a takeaway a long time ago, my mom was a deli cook, my dad was a chef, and many of my aunts are amazing cooks.
“So naturally I gravitated towards food early on. As a child, I was fascinated by cooking shows and often ditched the cartoons for ‘The Naked Chef’ by Jamie Oliver and ‘Nigella’s Kitchen’. I also loved to help my mom bake,” she said.
“My mother would always bake delicious treats every week -- from jam tarts to milk tarts and her famous bran muffins, which, to this day, we all enjoy.
“She always allowed me to mix the cake batters or dough and crack in the eggs, which brought me so much joy even though it was such a simple task.
“When I was about 8 or 9 years old, she allowed me to bake a batch of bran muffins on my own but under her watchful eye.
“I remember the moment those muffins came out of the oven. The smell of freshly baked muffins wafted through the kitchen, the texture as I broke one of them open to taste it. That was a moment I will never forget,” added Brink.
She said with the Covid-19 lockdown came the opportunity for her to start an Instagram page dedicated to food.
“I started it to help others get through the isolation of the period. Takeaways and restaurants were closed, so I shared recipes that were taken from some of the popular fast-food outlets that all South Africans were missing.
“I never imagined that ‘CookingwithChanelSA’ would grow to more than 180 000 followers and counting. Through my page, I channel my love for food and the nostalgia that food brings to us all,” said Brink.
Besides content creation, the 34-year-old Durban-born is also a sales consultant for a construction company in Johannesburg.
She said she never imagined that content creation could become a career.
“I remember always watching influencers do unboxings and talk about PR gifts they received and campaigns they worked on.
“I thought about what a wonderful career it would be, but that could never be me. Needless to say, I was shocked when I received my first paid partnership with only 1 000 followers.
“At that point, I thought it was just a once-off, but soon after that, I started receiving requests from brands to partner with me.
“After the first year of beginning my page and having worked on a few campaigns, I realised that I could turn my love for food into a career,” said Brink.
She said like any career, her journey as a content creator comes with its ups and downs.
Brink said what viewers see as a 30-second clip actually boils down to hours of work, from coming up with the concept of the content to filming and editing and her being her own social media manager.
“But the best thing is that she gets to tell a story through the food she shares on her platform.
Joining “MasterChef South Africa”
Brink said that she had never thought she would make it into “MasterChef SA” in a million years.
When “Masterchef SA” launched in 2012, she remembered thinking how fun it would be to enter, and now, years later she is a contestant.
“It feels so surreal, but I am so grateful to be a part of the show and live out one of my dreams. This is the biggest cooking competition in the world, and while I am incredibly nervous, I am also really excited to take on the challenges,” said Brink.
“’MasterChef’ is one of the toughest cooking competitions in the world. I love challenging myself, and so I entered to test my skills as a home cook.
“I have also always wanted to be a chef, and entering would prove I have what it takes to be a chef in a professional kitchen. The challenges put you under pressure and make you think on your feet,” she added.
Asked what she has learnt so far in the competition, Brink said she has learnt to improvise.
“In the ‘MasterChef’ kitchen, you need to adapt and think quickly on your feet. If you can see your dish is going south, you need to improvise and work around any challenges you face.
“I have never experienced this in my own kitchen, so I am learning how to do it in the ‘MasterChef’ kitchen.
“I am also learning how to focus. At home, I easily get distracted. While cooking, I watch some television, look at my phone or talk to my husband, but here there is no time to get distracted.”
In the near future, Brink said she would love to help other aspiring content creators grow their platforms and earn a living through social media, and hopes to launch her online bakery which will offer cooking classes.
“We are in a different era now where social media can be a career, and I am hoping to create an online course that helps others achieve this.
“I also hope to grow my social media following and dabble more on platforms like TikTok,” she said.