RealityWatcher

Nina Compton.

Sara is my least favorite of anyone left, and I think there are several instances this season where she could have gone home... but her dish tonight looked and sounded absolutely delicious. Out of all of them, it would be the one I would order right now if I had to choose. I also thought Kelsey used canned crab meat. Lol. I couldn't believe it, but using fresh lump crab meat for a gumbo makes a lot more sense. That's what I heard her say, but the editing confused me and I thought she got her crab straight from a can. That also left me wondering why she grabbed so little of it. Anyway, the roux sounded interesting and was received well. Eric's dish is something I would like to try. This is why I am happy to see lesser known cuisines get represented. Not only does Eric do West African food, but he adds his own unique twists on a lot of the dishes he presents so I'm being shown food that I'm not familiar with, yet it looks appetizing. I would definitely be excited to eat something he prepared. One day, I'm sure! When I saw Michelle's salmon I wasn't sure if it was cooked properly, but having heard the judges remarks about the crispness of the skin, (etc) it seems like it was pretty spot on in execution. I think Adrienne or Justin could have gone home without either decision seeming unjustified. They both were clearly outcooked by others. But it seemed like Adrienne was pretty sure she was going home, and listening to some of the comments, I can understand why it would not have been a shock. The dish was not seasoned properly. Several judges remarked that the duck was very underseasoned, which is a mistake that simply shouldn't be made at this stage in the competition. The guest judge (whose favorite word is obviously "forward") seemed to prefer Justin's dish, so Adrienne's clearly had distinct flaws. It also looked a mess. Justin's mistake was trying to do the fish two ways, because there was just more on his dish to find fault in; had he just made the fish one way with the kimchi, it would have been more focused and Adrienne would have been sent packing instead of him. Coulda, woulda, shoulda... but I'm sad to see him go. He seemed to genuinely have fun throughout the competition and embrace the experience. I am wondering now if Kelsey is going to win the whole thing. I think it will be either her or Eric, at this point... but the preview for next week isn't looking good for Eric, although I doubt the final four will end up being all female. He's my favorite, but I like them all with the exception of Sara. I don't hate her as much as some do, and I don't think she's a bad person. However, she is abrasive and she simply hasn't performed as well as the other remaining chefs, despite her knowing everything and being the absolute best at everything.

I agree. I went to a Filipino church for a lot of my childhood (my stepmom is an immigrant from the Philippines) and we always ate there. She herself cooked a lot of Filipino dishes and still does, and I've always described the cuisine to people as a mixture between east Asian and Spanish. Because obviously Spanish culture had a heavy influence on the Philippines. I was talking about underrated cuisines earlier, and I would add Filipino to the list. A lot of people just it based on gross, bizarre dishes like Balut. My stepmom lived there until her mid twenties, and even she said it's disgusting. I'm glad Adrienne just ended up caring about the "heat" of the fight to go along with the challenge instead of trying to create a dish to pass off as Filipino.

Oh, yeah. When I made that comment, I was actually thinking of how Cajun, Creole, and Caribbean food have much more representation than, say, West or Central Africa (even though the former cuisines have African influence). I mean, Eric is one of the chefs this season who has made several dishes that a lot people haven't heard of and/or are unfamiliar with. Another interesting thing is how African cuisine has influenced Southern Cuisine in general, which Kelsey noted in the second episode when they were discussing Eric's dish in relation to a southern challenge. She said something like, "I don't mean to be racist, but..." and then proceeded to say something that was not racist at all and was actually thoughtful to the meal they were planning. Lol.

When Tom asked what Fufu was, I had a hard time buying that he actually didn't have at least a basic idea of what it was. I thought perhaps he was asking just so Eric would explain it more in-depth for the cameras and where he was trying to go with his particular Fufu dish. Nevertheless, I feel like Tom does become impressed when people make pasta from scratch that is actually good.

While I think he seems to really like Eric, I do agree with your comment and I do think that African and even southern cuisine and "Soul Food" don't get the culinary recognition they deserve. My mom is black and a Detroit native, so I grew up eating delicious Soul Food on holidays, and on Sundays when we'd gather at my grandma's or one of my aunts' houses. It has always frustrated me that some people don't even recognize it as a cuisine. Also frustrating is the lack of representation for African cuisines. I like Eric because he is talented, has been one of the more consistent chefs this season, and seems like a decent guy. But it will be an extra bonus if he wins, to see someone who does African cuisine get the spotlight. African cuisines are definitely worthy of the conversation.

Yup. The season Jeremy won. Eric was a sous-chef at Kwame's restaurant, Kith and Kin. 🙂

I completely agree with the "too greasy" part. I don't get fast food too often, but I've gotten KFC a couple times in the last year or so and both times made me sick to my stomach afterward. Not like severe food poisoning, as it didn't last long, just feeling sick after eating it, getting sick once, then feeling better and going about my day afterward. It just doesn't seem to agree with my stomach and is greasy and heavy.

Yeah, although I am rooting for Eric, I've learned ever since the Nick/Nina finale that *usually* my front runner does not win. I'm hoping it is not the case this season. For what it's worth, this episode showed me that Tom really seems to like Eric. The mini-speech he gave him about his cooking of African food just seemed to indicate that Eric is clearly one of Tom's favorite remaining chefs.

I'm honestly not sad to see Eddie go. I haven't quite gotten over his spending over 1/3 of his team's budget in the earlier episode, even though he seemed to genuinely feel bad about it after. I wasn't around during Muhammad Ali's boxing career as I did not exist yet back then, but watching his interviews is inspiring. I've sat around watching YouTube clips on my living room TV just of his interviews. He had such a "champion" mentality that makes sense to channel even during a competitive cooking show. And I know he has good culinary taste; my great grandma was known for her delicious soul food and he used to come to her house and feast on it - it was before my time (the 80s) but many of my family members still have pictures of him over there hanging out with my family. I wish I could have met him! I'm not a fan of Sara's at all, but it's fine with me that she got a little bit of redemption after last week's failures which hopefully humbled her a little because she's been quite... I don't know... abrasive...? I'm happy that Eric got the win. I mean, he's one of the few contestants this season to stick around after getting an EC win (lol), and he has performed consistently throughout the competition. He's definitely the contestant I'm rooting for to take it all.

He was on the rookies vs veteran's season's weird new LCK setup.

I was outraged, too. Nina is my all time favorite cheftestant EVER. I had watched Top Chef here and there, but her season was the first one I watched every week religiously as it aired (and over and over again on my DVR between new episodes). I liked her from the first episode and I'm still upset that she didn't win. I've accepted it more now that I see how successful she's been. I can't wait to finally eat at her restaurant!

Marcel seems to have matured based on his last gig on Top Chef, but he used to be a true piece of work. Back in 2011, I was in college and majoring in media arts before I changed my major to poli sci. So my aunt, who produces and hosts some reality shows, was in town from LA because they were filming some show called "Marcel's Quantum Kitchen" or something (I never ended up following up with the air date to watch it); it was being filmed at a museum here in metro Detroit, so my aunt took me and let me sit behind the scenes with the production crew. We got there and I was hanging out with my aunt and everyone else (Marcel was on his way, I believe) and one of the other producers or whatever came into the room, extremely stressed out, saying they were almost ready to cancel the whole thing because Marcel was so difficult to work with and was a prima donna. They HATED him. They were almost ready to stop production and apparently he had threatened to quit, too. He had a high list of demands and was being beyond rude to everyone. No one liked him. I couldn't believe his temperament when he finally arrived. He was so disrespectful. Even when actual filming started, and there was a large group of people filming with him (college students I think?) who didn't know him at all, he was STILL being a jerk and getting frustrated with anything and anyone. I did get to try some of the leftover food though. I was cautious so I only tried some chocolatey dessert he had made. It was good. There was a duck dish sitting out, but it was medium rare-ish and had been sitting for hours by then, so I passed on it. It was probably delicious, but oh well. Obviously the chefs on his season were immature and, quite frankly, bullies with the way they treated him. However, I imagine filming with him week after week was nothing short of extreme frustration.

For the people asking if anyone's ever made the top 3 while being ineligible for the win... yes it has happened at least once. The season that Jeremy won, there was an elimination challenge where Karen (the woman with the pink hair who was featured in this season's restaurant wars episode) made a fish dish that the judges loved, but one of her plates did not have the fish on it. Since the ones who got the fish on their plates loved it, she was indeed in the top 3, but was told she was ineligible for the win. Kwame won that elimination challenge with a crab dish. It was a while ago, but I'm pretty certain I remember correctly that that's how it played out.