Home baker from Vryheid, Leoné Smit (30), and her father, Andrew Anderson (57), will showcase their culinary talent on the next season of kykNET’s Kokkedoor.

The dynamic father–daughter duo are among eight teams, each made up of two family members, that will be competing for the coveted Golden Rooster trophy and a R500 000 cash prize in the cooking show’s 10th season, Kokkedoor: Son & See.

A new twist to the hit series

Viewers of the show can expect this season to be uniquely different from the previous ones. According to the show’s producers, there are no professional chefs this time, only home cooks, and each team comprises two family members with a generation gap of at least 20 years.

The spotlight will shine on the nostalgic role that cooking plays within families, and how it weaves together like a golden thread through different generations.

Cooking runs deep in the family

Leoné, her husband, Koot, and their three children, Erasmus (6), Derek (4) and Amalia (11 months), live on a Vryheid farm that is owned and operated by Koot. Her father, Andrew, is a pastor at the AGS Light & Life Church in Mtunzini. Andrew enjoys doing the catering at his church’s year-end functions, while Leoné takes pride in the delicious quiches and decadent cakes she bakes from home.

Their participation in the show is a tribute to Andrew’s mother, Marie, who was passionate about cooking.

A tribute to a beloved grandmother

“She was always innovative and brought people together, especially with her delicious dishes,” said Andrew. “That was my driving force.”

Marie was tragically killed in a home invasion when Leoné was just six years old, but Leoné believes the ‘cooking gene’ was passed down through the generations, from Marie to Andrew and then to her. “Whenever I felt overwhelmed in high school, I would stop studying for a bit and bake a cake. I found it calming and therapeutic,” said Leoné.

A dream opportunity becomes reality

“I have always wanted to enter a cooking show and when I saw the casting call for Kokkedoor on kykNET and saw how this season is going to be different, I called my dad and he said, ‘Let’s do it!’,” Leoné recalled.

Leoné and Andrew then submitted a video application in which they introduced themselves and described where their passion for cooking comes from and why they wanted to be on the show.

Auditions test their skills under pressure

In-person auditions took place on May 7 at the MasterChef South Africa kitchen in Cape Town.
“It was stressful,” said Leoné. “There are 10 stations on the set, so we cooked in groups of 10. For our audition dish, we had to make something that uses chicken breast in the recipe.”

Leoné and Andrew wowed the judges with a chicken phyllo pastry pie, using a recipe Leoné came up with in the moment. Two weeks later, they received an email from Kokkedoor confirming that they would be among the 16 contestants on the show.

Filming begins in Struisbaai

“Then we had to start planning because filming was scheduled to begin in Struisbaai (Cape Town) two weeks later. Dad had to make arrangements for someone to stand in for him at the church and I arranged with mum and my mum-in-law to look after my three children in my absence. My youngest was only six months old,” said Leoné.

Filming took place every day for two weeks.

“It was stressful, but it was also so much fun, and by the end, the other contestants began to feel like family, especially since none of us were professional chefs and we were all on the same level,” continued Leoné. “We still keep in touch on WhatsApp.”

Special memories shared between father and daughter

Leoné described the best part of the experience as ‘doing it with my dad’.

“We laughed together, we cried together, we did everything together. My dad has always been my biggest cheerleader. He was always there for me, next to the field at every hockey game and next to the pool at every swim meet. However, on the show, I saw an emotional side to my dad that I have never seen before. We felt an especially deep connection to my grandmother, doing something she was so passionate about. I will always cherish those special memories I made with my dad on the show,” she shared.

Embracing the challenge

“Something my dad and I have in common is that we both love a challenge. I’ve never done something like this before in my life and I enjoyed the challenge. The fact that I got to do it with my dad is what made it special.”

Creativity put to the test

What Leoné enjoyed the most about being on the show was how it put her creativity to the test. “You have to think out of the box. You have to look at the ingredients differently and really think about what more you can do to get the most out of each ingredient. The show really pushes you out of your comfort zone,” she concluded.

Kokkedoor: Son & See premieres on Thursday, November 20 at 8 pm on kykNET (DStv channel 144). The series will also be available on DStv Stream and Catch Up.