He was the last man standing on the latest season of MasterChef SA and now Tsolo-born Lona Rode is gearing up to cook a mega meal for an extended family Christmas bash.
Rode, 35, a self-taught cook who impressed the show’s judges with his Xhosa-inspired dishes and won R100,000 on the show, says for him Christmas is a time for eating food cooked with love.
Now based in Cape Town, Rode will be coming home to Tsolo to cook for a large family gathering at his cousin’s home.
“For me Christmas is a time of giving and a time of love. It’s also a time when we share good food as a family at a long table.
“We reflect on how the year has been and we get to pray together and have a jolly moment together.
“It’s a very sentimental time for me because I get to be with my family and I get to cook for them,” Rode, who came fifth in Season 5 of the popular S3 cooking show, said.
Large family Christmas gatherings are what he is used to because every year his grandmother would ensure everyone cooked and ate together.
“Growing up, Christmas was a busy day at home but busy in a nice way because my grandmother would be in a corner peeling vegetables, my aunts would be helping her, another aunt would be making breakfast, my mother would be making her signature trifle, my uncles would be outside busy with the fire.
“Us kids would be running around. It was a magical moment. There would be so much love in the house.
“We would get sweets and biscuits — all those nice treats,” he recalls.
Rode said family members would trek from far afield to be home for an Eastern Cape Christmas and non-family members were always welcomed and fed.
“I spent Christmas at home in the rural areas every year. It didn’t matter where you were in the world but on that particular day you had to be at home for Christmas Eve.
“Even if you had to drive long distances, you came home for Christmas.
“We went to church sometimes, but on other Christmases my grandmother would conduct church at home because my family was big enough to be a church on its own!
“She would conduct a prayer and it felt like we were at church. We sang Anglican hymns and Christmas carols.
“Going to church meant waking up very, very early and then by the time we got back we would still have to set up dinner, and we are a big family so there is a lot of cooking to do.
“Our biggest tradition is feasting. We love variety and abundance. We also host others because we get random uninvited visitors and it’s been like that from before I was born.
“People knew my family could cook good food and we were friendly so they knew that being part of our Christmas celebrations would be soothing for them, so we always cooked extra.”
This year, Rode will be celebrating with his many cousins and their mothers.
And the pressure will be on for the MasterChef celebrity who will be responsible for producing a memorable lunch.
“My family is expecting a lot of me not only because I was on MasterChef but also because they know I enjoy it and can cook for a lot of people and they will have a beautiful well-plated meal.
“They love meat so on the menu will be lamb shank, mash, vegetable melange, two salads and dessert. I have not decided but definitely a pudding and maybe a trifle.”
And sometime during the holidays, his family may benefit from a taste of a dish that brought the MasterChef judges to their knees.
“People loved my elevated cabbage dish. It was something I grew up eating and so it would be nice if they got a taste of what I did on the show.”
While he may not be handing out loads of gifts, Rode is keen to spoil his son.
“He called me and said he doesn’t have a phone. One thing I love about my son is that when he wants something he asks for it in a very nice and respectful way, so I have no choice but to get him anything he wants!”
And, because he grew up loving biscuits, he will share his festive stash with his son.
“Since I was a kid, my favourite Christmas snack has been Choice Assorted. Now my son loves a big share of these biscuits too.”
Asked what he would like from Father Christmas, Rode’s list is as ambitious as he is.
“I have a long list! I would love a high quality SLR camera to shoot my content and prepare for my cookbook.
“I would also love a beautiful Mercedes-Benz if somebody could bless me with that. If God could show up with a restaurant, that would be the biggest Christmas present I could ever get.”
DispatchLIVE
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