photo: bravo
Top Chef Masters
Lucha Vavoom
Original Air Date: Sep 11, 2013
Ryan O – Associate Editor
ryano@thetwocentscorp.com
This episode featured masked Mexican wrestlers, an accordion, a surprising (to me) elimination, an eccentric author, and two chefs actually wrestling. And yet, it was a bit on the boring side.
On the other hand, the Quickfire was a bit interesting with how it was created. Also, the penalty for finishing in the bottom of the sous chef competition was also interesting. Was it too harsh? Possibly.
Quickfire
The guest judge is Daniel Handler, the author of the Lemony Snicket books. I haven’t read them, so that doesn’t do anything for me but I know some people love them. Also, as the chefs walk into the kitchen, he’s playing an accordion because why not.
Paul, Doug’s sous chef, won the Sous Chef Competition, so, the two of them get 10 minutes to design the Quickfire challenge.
They decide chefs have to highlight ketchup in their dish. This is aimed at Sang, who doesn’t allow ketchup in his restaurant. They have 20 minutes.
Here’s what they made.
Doug: Duck breast with ketchup and mustard red miso, blood turnip, and scallions
Sang: Karage fried chicken with sweet chili sauce and grilled enoki mushrooms
Jennifer: Scallop with ketchup sauce, fermented black beans, avocados, and blood orange
Bryan: Buffalo chicken wings with celery emulsion and blue cheese snow
David: Grilled cheese and scallop sandwich with ketchup soup and salad with ketchup dressing
Bottom: David’s combo was too complicated. Doug’s duck was heavy.
Top: Bryan’s chicken was delicious. Jennifer scallop was great and the sauce was great. Sang’s dish was tasty, too. Jennifer wins!
Elimination Challenge
Now entering the kitchen, masked Mexican wrestlers — Luchre Vavoom. The troupe does wrestling, comedy, and burlesque.
The chefs have to do two Mexican dishes for 300 people. They get to work with their sous chefs and have three hours that day and an hour the next day.
Sang and Jen have an obstacle coming since their sous chefs finished in the bottom of the sous chef challenge. It turns out that when they get to the location, Sang and Jen have to switch sous chefs for the last hour of cooking.
The critics are Gail, Lesley Sutter, dine editor for Los Angeles Magazine, and Jane Goldman, founder of chow.com.
Here’s what they made.
David: Shrimp and chorizo quesadilla with chipotle and watermelon
Red snapper Veracruz with pumpkin seeds and cactus
Lesley and Curtis don’t think the quesadilla is anything like a quesadilla but more like a flauta. Lesley really likes the snapper. Jane was overwhelmed by the olives.
Bryan: Shrimp and chorizo with plantain and yellow rice porridge
Chile masa dumplings, braised beef tongue, salsa verde, and avocado
Jane thinks the shrimp was under-poached. Lesley disagrees. Jane loves the dumpling and here Lesley agrees, saying she’s going to clean the plate. (You kind of get the sense that Jane and Lesley don’t like each other.)
Jennifer: Shrimp, bass, and scallop ceviche with papaya, mango, pineapple, and plantain crisp
Guajillo chile posole with shaved cabbage, lime, cilantro, and queso fresco
Curtis thinks the ceviche is great. Jane thought the flavors in the ceviche were balanced with nothing overpowering the fish. Gail likes the posole a lot. Lesley likes it a lot, too, and thinks it will be great as hangover food.
Sang: Thai-style shrimp cocktail with avocado and tortilla strips
Pork barbacoa with sweet corn sopa and radish cabbage slaw
Neither Jane nor Lesley appreciate the Thai influence in the shrimp cocktail since they were supposed to make Mexican dishes. Gail thinks the pork was tender but very salty.
Douglas: Bloody mary with spicy tequila, tomato, and citrus (really, just “citrus”? Doug does list the citruses used when explaining the dish)
Chorizo and corn fritter with scallion and garlic aioli (based solely on appearances, these two look like the least ambitious dishes)
Curtis asks if Doug is trying to take the easy way out by serving a cocktail as a dish. Gail says she’s had better versions of the drink. Jane thought the texture of the fritter was mushy on the inside and crisp and crunchy on the outside. Curtis thought it was great.
Also, Bryan and Doug wrestled.
Critics Table
Everyone goes to Critics Table. On the top: Jen and Bryan (the same two from the Quickfire). Jen’s posole gets a lot of praise. Bryan’s tongue gets high praise. The shrimp, not quite as much. Jen wins!
She won with Sang’s sous chef, by the way.
Doug, David, and Sang were on the bottom. Doug has immunity. Having immunity in the round of five seems like it’s too much of an advantage.
The fish sauce in Sang’s shrimp cocktail overpowered the rest of the flavors. The barbacoa was too salty. Gail thought it wasn’t that interesting.
David’s quesadilla gets criticized for not being a quesadilla and for not having much cheese. Gail thought it was dry and bland. Curtis praises the salmon. Jane repeats how olives overwhelmed everything.
The three leave and the critics repeat their criticism.
I’d be surprised if Sang goes home. His dishes seemed a bit better received.
David and Sang return. Sang is going home. Wow. I’m stunned. I wonder how having Jen’s sous chef affected him.
What did you find to be tasty in this episode? Did you think anything was overdone? Give us your Two Cents below!