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S01.E05: David Burke vs. Takashi Yagihashi

FormerMod-a1

By FormerMod-a1
in Top Chef Duels [V]

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Bella

Bella

I'm so happy to see this match-up! I'll have to record it because I have an early start for work the next morning, but I expect this to be highly watchable, unlike a couple of other episodes.

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FormerMod-a1

FormerMod-a1

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Wow - they really challenged these Masters!  And they rose to the challenge.  They both made all those items sound and look appetizing.  I actually wish I could have tasted them.  I wish David had won at least one of the quick fire type challenges they did.  Hope he kicks ass in the Knockouts.

  • Love 4
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roctavia

roctavia

This episode was so nice to watch- it was about the food and had chefs who aren't so obsessed with being a TV star that they have to throw insults and be jerks just for the attention.

 

They actually have respect for each other as chefs and cooked some amazing food without all of the stupid drama. This is the type of reality competition show I like to watch :)

 

I don't do seafood, so I don't have much to say about the sea squirt... but they both seemed to come up with really creative ways to use such odd ingredients. Armadillo sort of freaks me out, since all I can think is leprosy! They carry leprosy!!  but that fruit sounds really interesting... either one of those desserts sounded delicious!!

  • Love 7
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KnittingOwl

KnittingOwl

This was the most enjoyable episode of the season for me.  Watching Takashi and Burke cook is amazing, and they clearly have respect for each other.  I wanted them both to win.  Burke needs to eliminate Mike Isabella in the side competition.

  • Love 10
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GaT

GaT

I like both these chefs, they always seem like nice guys & great chefs, but the strange food just turned me off, I could barely watch them cook. The eggs & crab both looked great, but not the strange stuff.

  • Love 4
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Lamb18

Lamb18

This was the most enjoyable episode for me.  I liked the challenge of what to make with these strange ingredients that neither chef had used before.  It was kind of a puzzle - they had to analyze each food item, search their culinary memory to determine what it was most like and what cooking method may work best, and then execute!  I was curious to see what they would make.

 

One of those Gastronomes was kind of pretentious.  I guess he wanted to be a real food critic when he was criticizing the dessert shaped like an egg - "I cracked it open and I was disappointed there was no WOW inside" - or something like that.  Then Curtis or someone else says, well, you had the delicious this and this great thing and other great thing in the egg - subtext: shut up, you idiot Gastronome.

  • Love 3
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Julia

Julia

The red wine and dried cranberry armadillo was too one note?

 

You know, it says something when Curtis Stone feels the need to point out that a judge is being an asshole about the food.

  • Love 11
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Totale

Totale

Mad skills on display, but I disagree with Gail about the positive aspects of slime as a textural element, and just like all the offal/bizarre ingredients shown on TV cooking shows I'm thankful I live where the streets are paved and we can feed that stuff to the cats.

  • Love 6
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joanne3482

joanne3482

One of those Gastronomes was kind of pretentious.  I guess he wanted to be a real food critic when he was criticizing the dessert shaped like an egg - "I cracked it open and I was disappointed there was no WOW inside" - or something like that.  Then Curtis or someone else says, well, you had the delicious this and this great thing and other great thing in the egg - subtext: shut up, you idiot Gastronome.

 

They had the Gastronauts on a regular season of the show. They were all pretentious like that. I was unimpressed by them as judges. 

 

Fun episode! I agree that I love them both and was sad one had to lose. I hope David Burke kicks everyone's ass in that Knockouts part so he comes back to the finale. 

 

I have a weird soft spot for armadillos now that I live in Texas and see them dead by the side of the road all the time. So its little corpse on the tray was a little sad to me. 

  • Love 1
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The Solution

The Solution

I really enjoyed watching both chefs analyze these unfamiliar ingredients before they used them, i.e. David Burke taking his sea squirt apart and figuring out which parts would be good to eat. This is the kind of thing I watch Top Chef to see. That, and the fact that they competed like gentlemen.

  • Love 5
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FormerMod-a1

FormerMod-a1

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I loved that they both picked ingredients for their respective quick fires (hidden box challenge?) that they knew the other was known for/good at. And they were more straight-forward ingredients too - eggs and crab. Gasp! It's almost like they wanted everyone to make and/or eat good food. (lol)

  • Love 8
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walnutqueen

walnutqueen

When I saw that armadillo, all I could think of was the red velvet groom's cake in Steel Magnolias.

 

Whenever I see an armadillo anywhere I flash on that scene, cooksdelight!

 

 

I had a friend who used to call them "possum on the half shell"

 

OMG, why did I lol at that?  I don't know if I hate myself more than I hate you right now, Julia.  :-)

  • Love 1
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DeLurker

DeLurker

(edited)

This was the most enjoyable episode for me. I liked the challenge of what to make with these strange ingredients that neither chef had used before.

This may have been the most I have ever enjoyed a cooking competition show ever. I liked both chefs, they are clearly accomplished and the ingredients made them work for it. Edited by DeLurker
  • Love 1
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sunrisepink

sunrisepink

They actually have respect for each other as chefs and cooked some amazing food without all of the stupid drama. This is the type of reality competition show I like to watch :)

 

 

I totally agree. This is the first episode of Duels where I didn't really have a dog in the fight - I hadn't heard of either of the chefs, and throughout the episode neither of them rubbed me the wrong way in the least. I honestly wanted them both to win! And I think they did, in a way.

  • Love 1
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leighdear

leighdear

I loved the way Takashi pronounced "Armadillo".....It sounded so much more appetizing with his accent!  *LOL*

 

The Gastronut dude was a total tool.  His buddy was practically mute, so maybe they cancel each other out.  

  • Love 1
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Writing Wrongs

Writing Wrongs

I have been skipping episodes because the chefs are always being assy to each other, but this was a good episode. I liked both the chefs.

 

It makes me giggle that Gail and Curtis cuss on this show. When Takashi said he had never seen armadillo before and Gail said, "Oh, shit." (beeped, of course) I had to rewind it. LOL

  • Love 1
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mlp

mlp

 

Not much interested in the squirty, lives in it's own poop thingy (sorry, can't remember it's name)

 

I can't recall the proper name either but that description is hilarious.

 

I was astonished that David Burke lost all the challenges.  He was a gentleman about it and Takashi is a doll so they both handled the judges' decisions well.  I'm inclined to think that this must be a legitimate competition if they'd vote against a legend like David Burke every time.

  • Love 2
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Kat

Kat

I accidentally fell asleep watching "Million Dollar Listing: LA" (shut up) and woke up to catch the last 20 minutes or so of this episode. I couldn't believe how many times 'sea squirt' was uttered. The words began to lose meaning and started to sound strange coming out of people's mouths. Especially Curtis - his Australian accent was giving me epileptic fits.

But all that aside - I found the love and respect between Takashi and Burke to be awesome and I went ahead and set a season pass for the rest of this season.

  • Love 2
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Julia

Julia

Mad skills on display, but I disagree with Gail about the positive aspects of slime as a textural element, and just like all the offal/bizarre ingredients shown on TV cooking shows I'm thankful I live where the streets are paved and we can feed that stuff to the cats.

 

FWIW, Anthony Bourdain, who prides himself on eating pretty much anything that isn't still fighting, wrote a big chunk of one chapter in one of his books about how natto (the slimy ingredient, which is made from a mountain yam) is the most disgusting thing he's ever only mostly successfully tried to not offend his hosts by keeping down.

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stillshimpy

stillshimpy

This was such a pleasant episode. I love both of the competitors, and have to admit to only being surprised Takashi swept it because of who he was competing against. That's David Burke, man, sweeping a competition with him takes some serious talent. I know Takashi has it ,but wow, way to go. David Burke was all class about it and the entire episode was so much fun.

Although, like seemingly most of the audience, I thought the gastronaut guy (the one that spoke, basically) was trying too hard to find fault and just made an ass out of himself in the end result. It did give Curtis a chance to show some personality, which was amusing, and also spoke volumes to how nitpicky and jackassy the Gastronaut dude was being.

I can't say I was a big fan of the ingredients, but I was a big fan of the chefs, so that more than compensated. Can't we just keep them both and retroactively eliminate CJ?

  • Love 3
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JTMacc99

JTMacc99

I can't say I was a big fan of the ingredients, but I was a big fan of the chefs, so that more than compensated. Can't we just keep them both and retroactively eliminate CJ?

What killed me was that Top Chef STILL managed to find a way to take the Masters and make things stupid for them in a way they don't do to the regular chefs. Yes, they gave them two helpers instead of one, but why did they feel like it was necessary to give them idiotic ingredients?  You know what would have been better? Giving CJ and Stephan the armadillo and sea squirt and giving these two guys the nice walk in the woods.

 

 

Please tell me "mountain yam" is not a euphemism for something else.

You know, I don't know if it is or if it isn't, but I am officially on the lookout for a conversation where I can use the term "mountain yam" as a euphemism for something.

  • Love 2
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meep.meep

meep.meep

Yam is the funniest short word ever!

I think Mountain Yams are a kind of sweet potato, that is pretty gelatinous when cooked.

 

 

FWIW, Anthony Bourdain, who prides himself on eating pretty much anything that isn't still fighting, wrote a big chunk of one chapter in one of his books about how natto (the slimy ingredient, which is made from a mountain yam) is the most disgusting thing he's ever only mostly successfully tried to not offend his hosts by keeping down.

 

On the original Iron Chef (you know, the Japanese one), they did an episode with natto as the secret ingredient.  One of the judges refused to taste dishes after a while.  Natto is made from soybeans, not mountain yam.

 

I disagree vehemently with Gail on this one.

  • Love 1
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Julia

Julia

On the original Iron Chef (you know, the Japanese one), they did an episode with natto as the secret ingredient.  One of the judges refused to taste dishes after a while.  Natto is made from soybeans, not mountain yam.

 

I believe it's made out of both, but the one Bourdain particularly objected to was made with mountain yam.

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sunrisepink

sunrisepink

(edited)
I loved the way Takashi pronounced "Armadillo".....It sounded so much more appetizing with his accent!  *LOL*

 

Yes I enjoyed that as well! Wasn't he pronouncing it "armadio"? It made the dish sound much more appetizing than it was. I'm not sure I would ever want to eat armadillo to be honest.

 

I accidentally fell asleep watching "Million Dollar Listing: LA" (shut up) and woke up to catch the last 20 minutes or so of this episode.

 

Ok, I have to laugh, especially because you put the name of the show in quotation marks.

 

The gastronauts were horrible.

Edited by sunrisepink
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gigi1701

gigi1701

(edited)

I think Mountain Yams are a kind of sweet potato, that is pretty gelatinous when cooked.

 

On the original Iron Chef (you know, the Japanese one), they did an episode with natto as the secret ingredient.  One of the judges refused to taste dishes after a while.  Natto is made from soybeans, not mountain yam.

I have only seen natto with soybeans, it seems mountain yam added is a variation, but not that common. I have had natto, but it was made here in California, it wasn't as sticky, it was a bit sweet, but it did have whole soybeans as well as seaweed in it. I can say the California version was quite tasty and still a fermented soybean miso.

Edited by gigi1701
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AndreaK1041

AndreaK1041

I thought this episode was fantastic. It made me want to seek out their restaurants and go, which I cannot say for any of the previous episodes of TC Duels. I would have loved every dish David Burke made. The descriptions would have made me select those things off a menu for sure!

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AnnieMT

AnnieMT

I especially love David Burke.  I must admit that I did a FF to where the dishes were placed in front of the judges at the preparation of the gross ingredients.  Even with both talented chefs preparing for me,  I'm afraid I could never even consider tasting any of it;  I know I would barf.  Having said that, I imagine both of their eggs and crab creations were divine.

 

Serious question, anyone?  *WHAT* makes anyone a food expert?  I find many of them downright pompous and over-the-top.   

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Kromm

Kromm

Serious question, anyone?  *WHAT* makes anyone a food expert?  I find many of them downright pompous and over-the-top.   

The accepted criteria is "wide exposure to a lot of different food".  Say you'd never eaten sweetbreads before.  Would you be that qualified to judge it?  

 

So the general wisdom is, if you've been exposed to a lot, you're a somewhat better judge.  Of course the Top Chef franchise often flies in the face of this by having idiot actors/actresses on, although in many of those cases there's just a pretense it's for a party they're holding and they don't actually get to judge.

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