caitmcg

Manny had the tough beef, it was Kévin who vastly undercooked the tenderloin. When it was served to the judges, he said "medium rare," even as they only had to look at it to remark, "still mooing" (and it was apparently pretty much raw, at that).

And yet, they disliked Rasika's dish, because every component — the fish and both sauces — was very salty. I noticed that at Judges' Table, every time they showed Rasika, she had a kind of sour look. We didn't see them address her, but we know they edit way down for time, so I assume they told her her dish was kind of a fail for its saltiness. As it happens, Michelle's dessert, even with not enough pineapple (second thing she gave up for the team) was more successful with the judges. I think it was because, as Amanda said in a talking head, they both cook Japanese (or Japanese-inspired) food, so I assume they were both heeding Kristen's advice to "cook your food." Anyway, nice to see Amanda distinguish herself with a widely praised dish. She hasn't been very successful so far.

At the very least, it was obviously set up that two would return, regardless of how Tom worked to make it seem spontaneous.

I don't see why not, given that Rasika herself is Indian-American, and was cooking food that reflected her own regional (Tamil) heritage in an elevated way. She even said the rasam was her grandmother's recipe. She's probably at least as familiar with and competent at the cuisine as Padma.

Nancy was a pupil midwife during her first season.

This happened to a couple my mother knew (in fact, theirs was possibly the first wedding I attended, when I was around five). Their son was around three when it happened. I don't think he needed a trach long term, but definitely a feeding tube due to the brain damage. He died at a fairly young age. The parents blamed each other for allowing it to happen and it led them to divorce, and eventually the husband committed suicide. It was terrible all around.

Right, I understand that's how it works from a time perspective: Soo came in and started filming LCK, which is like doing a bunch of QFs in a row; whoever comes to LCK after being eliminated may or may not be doing it without much of a break, depending on how close to their elimination is to the filming of LCK. When I mentioned their exhaustion, I wasn't just thinking physical, but also mental/psychological. It's clearly a lot to go from challenge to challenge, always thinking on their feet.

What can't you learn from a YouTube video these days? I wouldn't be too surprised if it were part of his TC prep. We all know by now that he closely studied the show before competing, so he doubtless realized that liquid nitrogen is the only reasonable way to produce ice cream within the competition, and I can imagine him thinking, "Okay, I need to learn to do that."

I'm not that surprised, in that it usually took at least a third or halfway into each season before Padma started getting emotional delivering the PYK verdicts. Like the viewers, it presumably takes some time before the host gets to know and feels invested in the contestants, or sad to let them go. When Kaleena first mentioned it during their planning session, I assumed it was meant to be a savory dish, not a dessert, and it made sense (and sounded potentially good) in that context. I've certainly never heard or thought of putting mushrooms in sweets, with the exception of candy caps.

I liked its look much more than I did his fussier plating complete with fancy-shaped tuiles during his seasons.

I didn't think there was any suspense there; just as it was obvious which pair would win, I thought it was obvious Rasika would come out on top. While the judges complimented the pair and their concept and didn't really have any criticism, it was Rasika's dish they couldn't stop talking about.

The Special Dark is Dutch processed, which generally is darker and richer tasting than natural (like regular Hershey's cocoa).

Honestly, this was true not so long ago. Twenty years ago, my primary care doctor was still charting on paper and would let me know.

But the judges didn't choose the winner this time, only the loser. The win was determined by the crowd and went to the contestant who got the highest score from the diners, who wouldn't know anything about Rasika's immunity.

But apparently he didn't. It was pretty far into the serving period when we saw Kenny say he realized he was running out of his relish and hadn't yet served the judges, so he was setting aside some of what was left. Yet, Tom specifically complained that instead of getting the cherries in the cherry relish, they got the vinegary liquid from the relish, which just made the dish wet, and said he should have known to set enough aside for the judges at the start. Reminds me of how, on GBBO, the chocolate challenge, or anything involving ice cream, is invariably on the hottest day in the tent.