WATCH: Friendship is cooking together

Tenille Dreyer (39) and Karen van der Merwe (34) are one of the teams in the new season of My Kitchen Rules SA (MKRSA).

Their 16 years of friendship and passion for cooking have now been caught on camera.

The RECORD visited the duo to explore their worlds and their experience with MKRSA.

Taking chances

“I remember seeing the MKRSA entries form on social media and I just phoned Tenille and said we are doing this,” said Karen.

Both of them are always up for a challenge. They then entered and followed the process, which included introduction videos of themselves making a dish in the kitchen.

After a while, they received the news that they should pack their bags as they were chosen as one of the 10 teams.

“On August 1, Tenille and I travelled to the northwest of Johannesburg. For the first 10 days, we were in quarantine in the Cradle of Humankind. After our 10 days, we then moved to another lodge where everything for the programme was set up,” they said.

Tenille and Karen had to be away from their families for a while.

“There was an empty room where everything was set up. This formed the blank slate where the kitchen and the sit-in restaurant were to be built for the show. Everything was there and it was just so perfect.”

They were the first team selected to present a three-course meal and set up their tables and sit-in restaurant.
The duo then received their food and drinks vouchers and they had to decide what they were going to serve to the 10 guests who included other finalists and the judges.

“Our theme was Modern Africa and the dishes we made was granny’s beef tongue, chicken pie and a peach and brandy pudding,” said Tenille.

They enjoy mixing Asian flavours with traditional fare but prefer sticking to their roots.

“Let me tell you, it is nerve-wracking to serve a dish and then watch everyone eat it and express no emotions,” said Karen.

Their MKRSA journey

These two said this was a hell of an experience.

“We entered with our own mindsets, but left with a whole different mindset,” Tenille added.

They also said they built a lot of new friendships with the teams from their group and they learned a lot from the show and themselves.

“This is a different kind of pressure, but looking back you just think to yourself, ‘wow how did we do this?’”

A challenge for them was to be away from their families.

“You had to put a pause on that part of your life, the wife and mum one.

“But what a ride it was. We grew with the experience and walked away with a lifetime of memories,” they said.

Tenille and Karen said they entered the show because of their love for cooking.

Both of them are very keen cooks and their most enjoyable time is spent in the kitchen experimenting with new recipes.

“We enjoyed every second of it. At the end of the day we want to inspire and show other women that you can still enjoy cooking meals while being a working woman, a mum, a wife and do everything that goes with that.

“Who is passing on your grandmother’s or family’s recipes if you are not trying it or even teaching it to your little ones? Someone needs to pass down our traditional food recipes.

“Just keep tuning in every Sunday at 18:00 on M-Net, DStv Channel 101. We hope to make it to the next round and we hope you enjoy every episode,” they said.

A strong and beautiful friendship

Their friendship started when Karen married Eugene.

“Eugene, Grant and I went to school together and then came this blossom (Karen),” said Tenille.

They have been friends for a very long time.

When you meet them, you get this warm loving vibe and you immediately want to have what they have because their love for each other is so contagious.

They finish each other’s sentences and together they are a mean team. Their friendship is enriching, edifying, filled with adventure and built on trust.

“Tenille shows a genuine interest in what’s going on in my life, what I have to say and how I think and feel. She accepts me for who I am,” said Karen.

These two cannot only cook mouth-watering dishes, but they also know how to have fun.

“We taste and encourage each other and help with whatever the other one needs.

“Karen is just this sparkling and bubbly person. Life would suck without her. She is a real go-getter and wherever she goes, she inspires and touches the hearts of others,” said Tenille.

Tenille, the optimist

She was born and raised with her sister in Alberton and matriculated at Hoërskool Marais Viljoen.

After matriculating, she went to study to become an optometrist at Rand Afrikaans University, which is now known as the University of Johannesburg.

She is now the owner of Wink Optometrist in Linksfield and has been in the industry for 17 years.

When she is not finding solutions to people’s eye problems, she is a wife and a mum of two.

She got married to Grant in 2006 and she has two daughters aged 12 and nine.

In her spare time, she enjoys camping, exercising and experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen.

She loves cooking main dishes, which you can eat with your hands.

Something not many know about her is that she loves to just dance it off.

“Whatever life throws at me I just dance it off,” she said laughingly.

Euthene du Preez, Tenille’s mother, is her biggest inspiration in life.

“She has always been there to support me and she will always make a plan. She is very kind-hearted. She is Mother Christmas because she loves to help others.”

Tenille’s life motto is, “When life throws me lemons, I pour the tequila.”

She will always find the silver lining in life.

Karen, the go-getter

She was born and bred in Glenvista with her brother.

After matriculating at President Hoërskool, she took time to travel around the world.

In 2006, she met her husband, Eugene, and they got married in 2012.

“I met my husband, who is my Viking, through mutual friends,” she said.

They have two beautiful children, a two-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter. Karen is a stay-at-home mum and she loves it.

In her spare time, she does some work for her husband’s business or cooks for families.

“I even prepare lunchboxes four times a week for working mums who are unable to pack a lunchbox.”

Her hobbies include clay pigeon shooting and she adores farm life.

“When I get the chance to get my bum on the farm, I take it,” she said giggling.

Her inspiration in life is her husband because he supports her in every aspect of her life and makes everything he puts his mind to work.

Karen said she is a very determined person and loves to take on challenges or try out new things.
Her motto in life is to be yourself.

More about MKRSA

The yummiest local cooking competition, My Kitchen Rules SA, returns to M-Net this September for the ultimate culinary face-off.

The fast-paced and intense cooking competition will see teams of avid home cooks go head to head in a bid to impress their fellow competitors and celebrity judges – J’Something and David Higgs all in the hopes of winning a R1-million grand prize.

The first table of five duos will battle it out over the next five weeks in the instant restaurant phase of the competition but things look a little different this season.

My Kitchen Rules SA will be available on DStv premium on M-Net (Channel 101) on Sundays at 18:00 as well as live-streamed on the DSTV App, and DStv Catch Up through the DStv App or DStv Explora.

For exclusive content and to join the conversation, visit Twitter, Instagram and Facebook using #MKRSA and #MNet101.