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Probably between steaming rice and making pasta from scratch. Somewhere along the lines of making mashed potatoes. I just think it makes Tom seem very uncultured to 1. not have heard of fufu before and 2. be automatically impressed by someone making it. It is definitely harder to make pasta from scratch than make fufu, yet I don't see Tom so impressed with pasta.

This is top chef, not top storyteller. The winner should be the one who makes the best tasting dish. What's "interesting" to Tom is not necessarily interesting to someone in Africa. Fufu is an extremely basic dish. It's basically like steaming a bowl of rice, like Nilou said. Pretty much everyone in West Africa can and does make it. To have it win a close to final challenge on Top Chef is laughable. It's the equivalent of someone steaming a bowl of rice as their dish. One of the problems with these shows, in my opinions, is how we "exotify" other cultures. Something is automatically exciting because it is unknown to the judges.

I get that the party-team won in this scenario, I think it was probably fair. But I thought this episode did a really good job of illustrating the two sort of personalities that have sort of shaped the storyline this season. We have the party-cliquey-sort of immature group of Justin, Eric, Kelsey, and Sara, (including Nini) and we have the more serious, less outgoing, more focused on cooking group of David, Brian, Eddie, Michelle, Adrienne, Brandon also. It is interesting to note the latter group of chefs come from a more classically trained, often fine-dining background, while the former mostly cook Southern cuisine. Maybe there is a sort of decorum in the kitchen that classically trained chefs have. The former group was also the group that was really angry at Brother's return. I think the way the season is pivoting, they are really trying to get a chef from the former group to win. Personally, I prefer one of the latter group.

I think Adrienne is a much stronger chef than Brian and I think she's great, but....did Brian bust himself off the whole night doing prep for the whole team only to get kicked off while Adrienne was sleeping?

I wish it was worded as support for Nini (as David and some of the chefs did) instead of as malice towards Brother (Justin, Eric, etc). A clique might care about each other, but I wouldn't call them a supportive group of people unless they welcomed others as well. Most of the chefs are great, but there are a few bad apples. On a side note, I really love how season 15 is supporting Fatima and in general being such a tight-knit group. I think they have had several reunions already.

Last season the roles WERE reversed. I did not hear Brother (or any other chef) say anything mean to Lee Anne. As a matter of fact, they were all extremely nice to her, Brother particularly. Brother gave a big hug to Lee Anne when she came back and seemed genuinely happy for her... Claudette received a warm reception as well. What a stark contrast...when the results were announced last season everyone was extremely excited and clapped strongly--a strong display of respect (despite TWO people, a newcomer and the most disliked person in the house, coming back). This season everyone was extremely pissed. The only person who hugged Brother was...incidentally, someone from last season, Carrie...

I wouldn't say it was bullying, because it wasn't straight up to Brother's face. But it was very rude and mean. Especially Justin, who made remarks during the judging of LCK, and fistpump during Judges Table; in both instances Brother was there, and could see Justin possibly. Was it "wrong"? That is a matter of personal value.

I understand that they don't have to get along or anything. But personally, I prefer the chefs who act with decorum when meeting someone new. I understand the rude comments were "honest, accurate", but were they really necessary? Was the fist pump in front of Brother really necessary? It really shows the true personalities of some of these chefs. Justin was the biggest offender by far. Combined with the Restaurant Wars blowup, I think he really is the villain this season. I don't like Brother as a chef either. But that doesn't excuse the behavior of the other chefs, nor would I treat Brother like that had I been on the show. Did anyone act like that towards Lee Anne last season? Did anyone fist pump when she had to bow out? No, actually all the chefs were exceedingly nice towards her, and they actually seemed sad when she had to go. They didn't act like that towards Claudette either, even though they had good reason to. This is the first season I have seen any animosity towards a LCK winner. That is why I liked last season so much more.

I'm not talking about the talking heads though. I'm talking about during the judging of LCK..Justin told Kelsey "How could you work hard for him with a good conscience?". Eric said "I don't care about this dude" (in a rather rude/mean tone). There is no way the producers told him to say that. What did Brother do to them? The way they are acting is extremely childish. Even in middle school you wouldn't treat a new kid so rudely without speaking to him at all. And in context, Eric's hand gesture was definitely a fist-pump. He seemed overjoyed after Brother's elimination in general. I also don't buy how Justin and others acted very surprised when there were returning chefs in LCK. There is no way they didn't watch last season. Interesting psychologically anyways. Kind of funny how you could dislike someone you've never met just from an us vs. them mentality.

Brother's return obviously had no net impact. But it did show some people's true personalities. The way some of these contestants treated Brother was extremely immature. Justin, Kelsey, Eric, also Sara were extremely childish in the way they treated Brother. This isn't junior high, you are all adults! Adrienne, Michelle, Brandon, David, Eddie, Brian seem to be much more mature. I am rooting for them. Brandon (everyone's villian) seemed to be the only one who interacted with Brother positively. Good for him. Justin actually did a fistpump when Brother's elimination was announced. I don't think I've seen that level of nastiness on Top Chef for a long time.

I get that from the idea that most people have been harping on the servers being untrained as a bad thing, which was the primary trigger for Nini's mistakes. I stand corrected if most of you don't think that way. (personally I'm torn. Yes, she was the main reason for her team's fail, but it is top CHEF)

Inasmuch as Nini was unfairly eliminated, as everybody has been complaining (and I'm sure Tom realized), its clear that the convenient LCK return happening the very next week is skewed towards her return.

I was quite disappointed in the dishes this episode. Maybe it was the conditions in the kitchen, but most of the dishes looked not very good--Brian's dish looked disgusting and ill conceived, outside of the top 3 none of them looked like desserts I would be happy to get in a restaurant. I think it's also an industry wide problem, that chefs (savory chefs) and pastry chefs are almost considered two different professions.

I think Tom quite likes Brandon. Brandon's dish looked quite good, presumably it tasted really bad? He wasn't as cocky in this episode, at least in person with the other chefs, though his interview cuts might have been (these are highly edited, remember) Nini really grew on me this week. Last week she seemed like someone who didn't contribute much to the team and cooked a very basic dish but this week she was a lot more helpful, cooked a better looking dish, and had some personality. She (and David to a lesser extent) seem a little childish, though. I guess in a good way...seeing the promo from the next challenge, I don't see how a professional chef can say "I'm going to murder you if you touch my bowl! " LOL Eddie is a mess, the kind of edit he is getting is also not good. Usually chef's lighten up after a few episodes, I hope he does because I can't watch his nervousness any longer. I predicted Natalie would go soon, even after her win last week. Chef's who are not (or who don't act) very confident never last long. I didn't taste any of the dishes but by look and concept hers was by far the worse. You are never supposed to literally make a lemon pie, it should be innovated in some way. Kelsey's one of my favorites. Not necessarily as a chef but she seems to be a really cool person to be around. Padma hugging her was an interesting moment, that's for sure.

Last season seemed to have a pretty tight knit group, though. The chefs are regularly still cooking together; even the ones who seemed to have "sour grapes" such as Claudette. Obviously my heart goes out to Fatima but seeing how all of the contestants and Padma have supported her made the season better for me.