S13.E06: Banannaise

[chiaros]

Regarding Jason's pork & squid meatball dish – I went poking around briefly, and it seems pork & cuttlefish/squid IS a combination common in Catalan cuisine, and not just "historical". From what I could see from a not-that-extensive look the more usual combination is pork meatballs with cuttlefish/squid pieces, not unlike what we saw on Jason's plate --- but it is not clear if Catalan folks combine chopped-up/minced squid into the meatball.  In any case, fish and cuttlefish balls, and cuttlefish (alone) balls are common in East/Southeast Asian cuisine...perhaps if Jason made his more in the style of E/SE Asian balls instead, where the combined meat mixture (whether fish, beef, or pork, or beef+tendon, or fish+cuttlefish, etc) are slapped and kneaded vigorously to change the structure of the protein fibers in the mixture to give the balls what is known as the desired "song hou" (in Cantonese) texture - where the ball is tender but "springy" so that when one bites into it it sort of yields but is "bouncy" and has a kind-of slight "snap" to it, they may have been received better? Or not - these judges have shown themselves to be pretty odd in their assessment of non-Western cuisines in the past.  In contrast, it looks like Jason made it with minimal kneading (would that be correct? or not?) and gave the balls a mushy texture, which I could well imagine would be nasty and might accentuate the worst aspects of each component? Maybe he was thinking of the sort of soft, almost-no-resistance "meatballs" with bread in it that is favored for certain Italian Red Sauce dishes and the like?

 

Eh, just thinking out loud here...

[swanjun]

One thing I really like about Wesley, and this happened in an earlier episode too, is that when his food is bad, he knows it, and he makes no lame excuses about it. So I respect him for that, and am bummed to see him go.

Angelina, however, is a welcome departure. I wonder if the plating issue was that she still had the tacos on something she had used in their preparation, whereas Philip had moved his snot onto a rock, and therefore it could be construed as plating?

Speaking of Philip, at the beginning of the season he was bragging about having won Chopped and Guy's Grocery Games. Probably, a part of him is honestly flabbergasted that he's not winning this time.

[In Pog Form]

... where the combined meat mixture (whether fish, beef, or pork, or beef+tendon, or fish+cuttlefish, etc) are slapped and kneaded vigorously to change the structure of the protein fibers in the mixture to give the balls what is known as the desired "song hou" (in Cantonese) texture - where the ball is tender but "springy" so that when one bites into it it sort of yields but is "bouncy" and has a kind-of slight "snap" to it...

That's all well and good, but how would you go about making it gummy?

 

Guy's Grocery Games

Is one of the games "Hide the Salami"?

Edited January 15, 2016 by In Pog Form

[jimene79]

While Phillip may seem annoying on the show, his restaurant in LA has been very well received (although I haven't been to it so won't personally vouch for it).  He's also doing a pop-dinner with Kwame.

[Grandma Saracen]

I didn't know how attached I'd grown to Isaac until he was up for elimination. *sniff* Karen has also really grown on me, though I still like many of the remaining chefs. 

 

I did not envy the judges having to eat those squid meatballs. They looked pallid and like they'd have the nastiest mouth-feel. 

 

I was glad to see that Angela and Marjorie got along - that she had someone on her side - but didn't really mind her leaving. 

 

I want to try the tamarind beer and many of the tacos. 

[chiaros]

That's all well and good, but how would you go about making it gummy?

 

 

Sorry, I'm not following. What I described was to achieve a springy texture.  Do you want a gummy texture instead? I was wondering IF Jason did that slapping technique he might have got a springy texture instead.  I didn't talk about a gummy texture.

[Tarasme]

Screw you Jason, you jackass, for making me feel more sympathetic to Philip. Again.

 

Philip- continue getting your garbage together. His issues make me think of Opie needing a clue and an object lesson. I don't sense an over abundance of ego, ill will, maliciousness, or anything else truly evil in Philip. Rather, he's young, ambitious, proud, but- with his weirdly rabbit looking face- I think he is able to adapt and learn. 

 

Unlike Angelina for whom the chip on her shoulder interfered with her gaining any ground. Bye.

 

Wesley, I'm gonna miss you.

 

Issac- GAnH! I'm never going to be able to look at chocolate covered frozen bananas again, but I'm glad you'll be on my screen awhile longer.

 

Chad & Karen- even with your wins, I'm not convinced I'll remember you in five weeks.

 

Carl? Cool that you opened a pop up taco bar on the beach.

 

Jeremy- Kwame's going to jujitsu beat you. Like a Ninja.

 

Marjorie- I like you but I'm thinkin' you need to seek opportunities to make more deserts. 

 

AMAR! Though you started this never ending season of the carrot, I'm looking forward to seeing you do more of the food within your zone.

[meep.meep]

Random thoughts -

Jason deserved to go home for that hideous jacket.  So much for the gays and fashion sense.

They showed a picture of Karen's wife so you could tell that she is female even if her pronouns don't give her away.

Did Carl marry his sister?  They looked identical in the picture they showed.

Fish tacos and Cesar salad - how cliche can you get?

It was cool that the top tier were all from different beer groups.

Bet Jeremy's going to start cooking with carrots again.  Was this the first time he wasn't in the top?

[Pepper Mostly]

Speaking of Philip, at the beginning of the season he was bragging about having won Chopped and Guy's Grocery Games. Probably, a part of him is honestly flabbergasted that he's not winning this time.

He also won Cutthroat Kitchen. Each one of those shows carries a not inconsiderable cash prize. He was saying that the TC prize would help keep his restaurant going. Maybe instead of going on competition shows he should spend more time at his restaurant? Will he be on Restaurant Startup next?

[Empress1]

They showed a picture of Karen's wife so you could tell that she is female even if her pronouns don't give her away.

I don't think Karen is trying to be cagey when she says "spouse" - she's very open about being attracted to women. She talked about it a bit in the gay wedding ep. My guess is that Karen's spouse is biologically female but may identify as genderqueer. I can't remember if Karen has used "she/her" when talking about that person - she always says "my spouse" but I can't remember if she's said something like "I miss my spouse and can't wait to get home to her." The fact that Karen says "spouse" so consistently makes me think it's deliberate. (Of course, my mom, who is very straight, used to use "spouse" interchangeably with "husband" when talking about my dad so it may just be that Karen prefers to say "spouse" rather than "wife.")

 

One thing I really like about Wesley, and this happened in an earlier episode too, is that when his food is bad, he knows it, and he makes no lame excuses about it. So I respect him for that, and am bummed to see him go.

I agree. He's very self-aware. He knows he's messy, he knows he hasn't traveled that much, and he knows when he overcooked meat. It's refreshing amidst "Gummy is what I was going for!" and "They just didn't get it."

 

The recapper said that the word "gummy" is never used to describe something good and used a gummy margarita as an example. That conjured up an image of a margarita with gummy worms or bears in it, and I would totally order that on vacation. Just saying.

[CoyoteBlue]

The fact that Karen says "spouse" so consistently makes me think it's deliberate. 

 

Maybe she got tired of hearing "who's the husband and who's the wife in the relationship?" enough that she decided "Neither, we're both spouses" as her stock answer and it stuck. 

[In Pog Form]

Sorry, I'm not following. What I described was to achieve a springy texture.  Do you want a gummy texture instead? I was wondering IF Jason did that slapping technique he might have got a springy texture instead.  I didn't talk about a gummy texture.

Say I wanted to open a pretentious hipster restaurant in L.A, where I only serve food with gummy textures. How would I go about achieving that in a squid and pork meatball? Would it help to have a giant photo of myself outside the restaurant?

[ratgirlagogo]

 

The comment about freezing a banana and putting it up his butt

Please.  It was "freezing a banana with NITROGEN and putting it up his butt."  The nitrogen part being a (playful, I assume?) dig at Blais.  I've always liked Blais and his stout sounded intriguing to me - I've had stouts and porters with beet and chocolate flavors before, but ras al hanout would work well in a beer that heavy - clove and cinnamon are common, and ras al hanout would have more going on than that.

Regarding Jason's pork & squid meatball dish – I went poking around briefly, and it seems pork & cuttlefish/squid IS a combination common in Catalan cuisine, and not just "historical". From what I could see from a not-that-extensive look the more usual combination is pork meatballs with cuttlefish/squid pieces, not unlike what we saw on Jason's plate --- but it is not clear if Catalan folks combine chopped-up/minced squid into the meatball

Throughout Spain and Portugal generally, not just Catalonia. Pork meatballs with squid is a dish you'll find in any Spanish restaurant.   But yes I think he ran into texture problems with mixing ground squid and ground pork into balls, which I've never seen in a Spanish place.  I have had pork and squid dumplings many times from Chinese places and maybe that's what he was trying to do?  But the  texture would be completely different..  It also seemed from Tom's comments as though the squid tentacles were not cooked properly on top of everything else, so......

 

Jason deserved to go home for that hideous jacket.

Well, at least the jacket should go home.  What an eyesore.  What did he say, something like he was expressing himself in a new way, or something, having quit  his jobs(s)?    The boy's going through a phase, one hopes.

Edited January 15, 2016 by ratgirlagogo

[Miss chi chi]

I suspect Angelina didn't plate on purpose.  She was having a terrible run and seemed in way over her head.  JMHO

[Maysie]

 

Rather, he's young, ambitious, proud, but- with his weirdly rabbit looking face- I think he is able to adapt and learn.

 

Thank god I wasn't drinking a beverage when I read this because I'd still be cleaning up my monitor right now.

 

 

Please.  It was "freezing a banana with NITROGEN and putting it up his butt."  The nitrogen part being a (playful, I assume?) dig at Blais.

 

I didn't see the season with Blais, so I didn't get that reference. I figured it was a dig at Man Bun's potatoes (for the iSi dispenser), but that's nitrous oxide (right?) and not the same as nitrogen. I'm learning science!

 

Right now, Man Bun is good to have around for entertainment value; I mean look how much mileage we're getting out of those potatoes. After living in a hipster city for a few years, yeah, those hipsters can be obnoxious, but for now he doesn't get on my nerves as much as Jason does. I sense that Jason may be a score-keeper, one of those people that's always mentally tallying up who got the biggest piece, who went first when and how often, etc., and will trot that out when he feels slighted. I may change my opinion if I see more (because I don't hate Man Bun like I expected to, so I may have the same change of heart over Jason). But my heart won't break if either one has to leave the kitchen.

[RCharter]

Say I wanted to open a pretentious hipster restaurant in L.A, where I only serve food with gummy textures. How would I go about achieving that in a squid and pork meatball? Would it help to have a giant photo of myself outside the restaurant?

I have the solution for this one. You serve it on a dirty ass rock you found outside that someone probably took a pee on. Thats really the only way to make it work

[RCharter]

I suspect Angelina didn't plate on purpose.  She was having a terrible run and seemed in way over her head.  JMHO

I kind of agree with you, I think she may have at least subconsciously failed to plate those tacos. Those tacos that would have definitely not been on the bottom. Those tacos that would have probably won. Those tacos that would have been so good they would have just awarded her TC on the spot. But the ones that no one got to taste......

And, I really didn't see any real strategy behind her decision to pick Wesley to go up against. Not when hit and miss Jason is there, and while ManBun who tends to be on the bottom is there too. For all his messiness, Wesley can make great food and has done so in the competition a few times, and he is a JB multiple award winner/nominee. So why not pick someone you have a better chance of beating? Or even Marjorie who may have thrown it so you could stay in the competition.

[Grandma Saracen]

Did Carl marry his sister?  They looked identical in the picture they showed.

Yes!!! Same exact thought. I was expecting a "my sister and I..." story, or something of the like.

[MissEwa]

He's still confused, however, about the fact that, even when he does well, someone else may do even better.

This struck me. He seemed to think that because he got only good comments that that should be an automatic win, which given he has a lot of experience on cooking shows seems weird. It's not a pass/fail situation, it's a competition. You can get 99 but if someone gets 99.1, they win. It's not a conspiracy. Your food was yummy, theirs was yummier.

 

I am a fan of Richard Blaise. I think he's quirky and interesting and actually kind of cute in a nerdy way. I like him and am glad when he's on FN or TC. I too don't get the Blaise vitriol whatsoever.

I'm torn. I liked him, mostly, as a cheftestant. As anything else he's come across as really smug and a bit of a know-it-all. I do kinda feel for him though - I feel like maybe he's a little insecure and socially awkward and so trying a bit too hard?

Right?  Why is snot on a rock acceptable, but taco on a cutting board is inedible?

 

  

I don't know if it's a think in the US but serving food on boards is a huge thing in "cool" cafes and restaurants in Australia. If it had looked intentional it would have been fine but I think the fact that she had the plates there and empty, and started swearing, made it obvious that wasn't what she was doing, and the producers probably stepped in and ruled on it. She should have just knocked the plates off to the side and pretended it was deliberate.

Right now, Man Bun is good to have around for entertainment value; I mean look how much mileage we're getting out of those potatoes.

Yep. I'm liking so many posts in this thread due to gummy/yummy funnies.

Has there been another judge who's done the Emeril thing of just hanging with the cheftestants? I know he did it on another season where he cooked them a meal - it's so adorable.

I thought Mr Meatballs should have gone because they looked disgusting. At least Wesley knew what he'd done wrong and owned up to it. I also agree with whoever said that he seemed to be growing and learning. He's a slob and kind of a downer but he seemed to be getting good things out of the experience.

I didn't like Angelina and she was definitely the weakest there and deserved to go, but are there really only two women left out of nine cheftestants? That's nuts.

[susannot]

"

I didn't like Angelina and she was definitely the weakest there and deserved to go, but are there really only two women left out of nine cheftestants? That's nuts.

Yep. I expect Marjorie will be the last woman standing though, and will make Final 4.

[In Pog Form]

I have the solution for this one. You serve it on a dirty ass rock you found outside that someone probably took a pee on. Thats really the only way to make it work

That's interesting. You'd get additional texture, and the pee would a depth of flavor, with notes of cheap wine and asparagus.

[cee]

Food flavored with urine would make a great Quickfire. Bear Grylls could guest judge.

[awaken]

Multiple Carrot Sightings!

[awaken]

Isaac, and the producers, seem incredibly thrilled at the cleverness of the bananaise idea!

Why does Wesley have such a complex about Richard blais?!

Marjorie was just being kind. I doubt Angelina will kill it in LTC. Buh bye, you long overstayedyour welcome.

Edited January 16, 2016 by awaken

[rozen]

Speaking of Philip, at the beginning of the season he was bragging about having won Chopped and Guy's Grocery Games. Probably, a part of him is honestly flabbergasted that he's not winning this time.

He's obnoxious, but I don't find his confusion unreasonable. Presumably, he's been cooking this way for a while, and those flavor profiles were consistently praised and rewarded by other successful chefs, to the point where he's won two other cooking competitions. Yea, I would be pretty confused to sailing into competition number three and not just have the newest batch judges quibble with my dishes, but actively shit on pretty much every element of them week after week. I'd feel like I was going crazy. At this point, competing in other shows is probably more of a hindrance than a help to him. Considering how much a studio costs in the trendy part of CA, no doubt his tv show winnings don't even make a dent in his rent and utilities bill. He's a hipster M Volt, makes good food but needs that extra sparkle to get butts in the seats.

Angelina has been sacrificed just as production wanted. George challenging Gregory just made me roll my eyes, but for some reason I kind of respected Angelina deciding to go compete against one of the better chefs. If you're going to lose, lose to the best kind of thing.

I have so much respect for Marjorie after that elimination challenge. How many times has "oh, I didn't set the pressure cooker/braiser/whatever properly" been the absolute death knell of a dish? And all that happened was she made a delicious dish with no beer flavor in it. I'm impressed by that.

Go go, Kwame the genius prodigy. It'll be interesting to see how he takes it when he is put in the bottom because of something he actively did, rather than being tied down by a weaker teammate. Or maybe he'll go undefeated, we shall see.

The judges were all kind of disgusting when pooh-poohing Catalan cuisine. Watch Catalan-Western fusion become the new thing and they'll all pretend they loved soft-on-soft textures. There are ways to say you didn't enjoy a dish without insulting an entire culture. Argue with the interpretation, not the validity of the food itself.

Edited January 16, 2016 by rozen

[AmandaPanda]

Seeing Emeril hanging out with the chefs makes me realize I'd love to see Emeril step into more of a mentor role, like Tim Gunn. Especially at the beginning of the show, Tom made it a point to emphasize that he is there as a judge and not as a mentor. It'd be interesting to see a season where Emeril is off the judging panel, but does the pre-competition walk-through instead of Tom. He could give feedback to the chefs about their ideas. That would be especially interesting if they did a season where the cheftestants are all starting out their careers, rather than a lot of established chefs.

[CoyoteBlue]

Why does Wesley have such a complex about Richard blais?!

Because I believe he's currently the executive chef of one of Blais's restaurants?

[CatWarmer]

the executive chef of one of Blais's restaurants

I think it's one of Blais's former restaurants.

[biakbiak]

I think it's one of Blais's former restaurants.

It was The Spence, which Richard left to move to San Diego and Wesley also no longer works there.

[snowblossom2]

I hate that I'm defending Man Bun, but at least with snot on a rock, you didn't actually eat the part that was on the rock. You ate the mussel (was that what it was? Or oyster?) inside it. That's different than something unintentionally not plated, where you have to eat the outer shell.

[In Pog Form]

I hate that I'm defending Man Bun, but at least with snot on a rock, you didn't actually eat the part that was on the rock. You ate the mussel (was that what it was? Or oyster?) inside it. That's different than something unintentionally not plated, where you have to eat the outer shell.

Actually, the judges did eat straight off the rock, because the oyster was not served in its shell - the edible part was placed directly on the rock.

[Richness]

The highlight of the episode for me was Isaac joking about shoving a liquid nitrogen frozen banana up his ass. I laughed out loud so hard over that. I'm not sure if it was an intentional dig at Richard Blais (and his quirky cooking methods) or not, but it was good either way. I like Richard for the most part, but I'm tired of him as recurring guest judge. Can Queer Eye Ted Allen come back instead?

But back to Isaac, his personality constantly treads a very fine line between hilarious and obnoxious for me. The needle pings over into the latter every once in a while. However, I'm glad he didn't go home. While I can't stand the smell or taste of bananas, I'm not sure why they threw him for such a loop. Of the bottom dishes, his looked like a mess, and tied Jason's slimy squid for lack of appeal.

I am thankful that Angelina finally went home since she's been a bottom dweller for so long. However, I hate it was on a Sudden Death Quickfire. I really hate those since it doesn't judge a quality I want in a Top Chef. I'll take tasty over speedy any day. Never did get her and Marjorie galmance(?) though. You'd think they swore a blood oath to each other or something.

Hopefully being on the bottom will teach Jason not to rag on fellow contestants. I really want to like him, but his verbal attack on Manbun was so ugly. Speaking of which, Manbun continues with his delusions of grandeur. I think I want these two out next. I am thankful that Messley is gone, but I'm not sure his dish was worse than Jason's. He's a nice guy, but his hygiene habits in the kitchen leave me disgusted.

Kwame continues to impress, especially when the banana aspect of his dish was something he'd never done before. That it came out delicious is almost criminal. He's definitely the golden boy this season.

Emeril continues to charm. However, couldn't they give him a Whole Foods cloth shopping tote to lug all those bottles of wine in? He seemed genuinely concerned with Karen's problems (or whoever it was).

And on a purely shallow note, I agree that Javier Plascencia is incredibly handsome. He brings the same sexy smoulder than Jeffrey Dean Morgan has.

[Lizzing]

Wes was sure all over with his plating technique. First challenge, he pulls out the stencils; this challenge, he goes for a splat. Although, the splat reminded me of Grayson's hilariously disgusting looking dish for the Snow White & the Huntsman challenge back in the Texas season, and I remembered why I liked her weirdness in that season.

Question though: I thought the big bushy beard guy (I cannot remember half of the dudes' names!) quit drinking per the wine challenge. Didn't he drink the beer this episode? I'm not out to police his alcohol consumption, but it seems weird to be all "hell no, not wine!" and be cool with beer for tasting purposes.

[JennFrost]

Another great episode! I loved the hipster mashed potatoes, don't know why the judges didn't!

[Totale]

Seeing Emeril hanging out with the chefs makes me realize I'd love to see Emeril step into more of a mentor role, like Tim Gunn.

 

He did that on another show which I forget the name of.  Three amateurs presented a dish they had created to executives of a product placement fast food restaurant (different every week) to try to get it on their menu.  He walked around in Sniff 'n Sneer mode while they were preparing their dishes. As I recall he wasn't really that good at it.  The part involving him on that show I remember most is that he had apparently never heard that you could cook potatoes faster by microwaving them.

[Wings]

I think it's one of Blais's former restaurants.

 

 

It is a former restaurant. 

http://atlanta.eater.com/2015/3/9/8177251/wesley-true-the-spence-executive-chef-richard-blais

[chiaros]

Because I believe he's currently the executive chef of one of Blais's restaurants?

 

I think it's one of Blais's former restaurants.

 

It was The Spence, which Richard left to move to San Diego and Wesley also no longer works there.

 

It is a former restaurant. 

http://atlanta.eater.com/2015/3/9/8177251/wesley-true-the-spence-executive-chef-richard-blais

 

Which he joined in March 2015, then decamped to do Top Chef in May-June.  

 

Then The Spence announces he is no longer with them at the end of July. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution article hinted there was a connection between those two things: http://atlantarestaurants.blog.ajc.com/2015/07/29/chef-wesley-true-out-at-the-spence/.  

 

The corresponding Eater article reports on the owner's comment that they supported True but did not get the same in return: http://atlanta.eater.com/2015/7/29/9066683/wesley-true-the-spence-top-chef.  Hmm.  

 

Barely a week later it is announced that True has joined The Optimist: http://atlanta.eater.com/2015/8/5/9095125/wesley-true-the-optimist-chef-ford-fry.  In this article it is claimed that a "tipster" reported True's dismissal was related to his move to The Optimist.

 

Haha, lots of stuff went on?

[theatremouse]

Right?  Why is snot on a rock acceptable, but taco on a cutting board is inedible?

It's not that it's inedible but my understanding of the rules is that the chefs must "plate" each item. So dude putting stuff on a rock completed the act of plating, since he took the final product off that upon which he prepared it and onto some other vessel. For taco-on-cutting-board to qualify as finishing the challenge in time she needed to go through the act of putting it on something she intended to use as a plate, whatever it be. Even if she did want to use cutting boards as a serving vessel, it probably needed to be a different cutting board than the one she used just to generally prep the food. Plus she had 4 empty white plates sitting there when time was called, and video of her saying "oh shit" etc. So she couldn't really lie and say it was intentional, and even if it had been, she'd still probably have been disqualified because it wasn't a separate new cutting board having been "plated" upon, and it was pretty conspicuous. And I'm sure she knew it the moment it happened that she failed to "plate". She assembled the final product, but didn't plate it. So it's no different than other scenarios when someone maybe puts say...burgers on 3 out of 4 plates and the fourth is considered empty even if everything intended to go on said plate was right there and assembled. And she did it with all her plates. The rules are explained to death to them before filming that we don't get to see so given her reaction I'm pretty sure she knew she was toast and there was no wiggle room on it. Edited January 16, 2016 by theatremouse

[stillshimpy]

It's not that eating from a cutting board is a problem, it's that plating is part of food preparation for the challenge. If it wasn't, or could be waived, there would be no reason for anyone to scramble to get their dish physically onto a plate.

Angelina didn't complete the challenge. Wesley was just done by the elimination challenge and knew it. When your only hope is someone else serving something "gross" it's time to go before it somehow gets worse. He also seemed to be terrified that he would directly compared to Blais and found wanting. Blais's judging has been fine this season, I think, but I am oddly delighted that his hair is getting progressively nuttier.

On the subject of Philip being so confounded to be dwelling in the middle of the pack, at best, it's clearly very confusing to him because whereas he thinks "this is good, nicely done" makes something flawless and therefore automatically deserving of the win, the judges want things they find actually worthy of praise vs lacking faults to be criticized. Philip is treating the two concepts as interchangeable and they are not.

Edited January 16, 2016 by stillshimpy

[candall]

I thought that little slice of corncob was a clever way to keep the [whatever] from getting soggy in the veloute.  Agree with above post that a scoop of crab salad on toast would have been deemed insufficient, Padma.

 

I'm sure the rules are drilled into them and non-negotiable, but I still would have given her respect points if Angelina had drummed up a "fish tacos began as a handheld BEACH treat" defense.  Better than mumbling about running out of time, which wasn't even really the main problem--she just spaced on the crockery.  Ah well, out of her depth from the beginning.

 

So, after we all had a good long look Wesley's sloppy station and "the tasting spoon incident" got a couple of replays, I'm not sure it was necessary to humiliate him with buttcrack footage during the episode he's eliminated.  He's down! Quick, kick him.

[stillshimpy]

Yeah that was a cheap shot in every sense of the phrase. It was a hard day to be Wesley overall and I winced pretty hard over the inclusion of that and the crashing sound. He seems to have a pretty good sense of humor about himself, so hopefully he took it all in good humor, but tough night for him. Plus, he had the decency to immediately own and apologize for his bad behavior over the missing crustacean. He seems like a decent guy.

Kwame seems like a great guy, he even saved Philip from basically billing his restaurant as Gummy Glop: On Purpose, which was about the kindest impulse ever. Philip was busily tunneling into the land of ill-advised Hills To Die On.

[bunnywithanaxe]

I'm a huge craft beer fan but I like beer-flavored beer. The judge's attempts all sounded revolting, even with whatever help they got from the usually solid Ballast Point and Stone.  The craft of it involves someone like Brooklyn Brewery invoking chocolate without adding it as they do with their Black Chocolate Stout or the subtle hint of banana that Belgian brewers can get from their choice of yeasts, not taking whatever base beer the guys gave them to play with and adding flavors to it.

Preach! Preach it to the beer-loving world!

[candall]

Philip was busily tunneling into the land of ill-advised Hills To Die On.

LOL!

[In Pog Form]

I thought that little slice of corncob was a clever way to keep the [whatever] from getting soggy in the veloute.

I dunno. Personally, I don't care much about the presentation of food, as long as it tastes good. But at Top Chef level, presentation is really important. And I can see how that corn cob looked like a piece of trash to the judges. It was an inelegant off-cut. And it wasn't intended to be eaten. I share Tom's opinion that if an item isn't meant to be eaten, it shouldn't be on the plate.

 

Agree with above post that a scoop of crab salad on toast would have been deemed insufficient, Padma.

 

I rarely agree with Padma, but she made the right call on this one. A crostino would have made it a much better dish - it would provide a textural contrast, at the same time as avoiding the "plating on garbage" problem I discussed above.

Edited January 16, 2016 by In Pog Form

[Seelouis]

Question though: I thought the big bushy beard guy (I cannot remember half of the dudes' names!) quit drinking per the wine challenge. Didn't he drink the beer this episode? I'm not out to police his alcohol consumption, but it seems weird to be all "hell no, not wine!" and be cool with beer for tasting purposes.

I actually watched for this and am pretty sure Chad did not drink the beer.

Edited January 16, 2016 by Seelouis

[Totale]

Preach! Preach it to the beer-loving world!

 

The whole thing was a mess.  Both Stone and BP have made beers with flavors added, but they take months to develop. When they finally let one of the brewers at tasting say something it was like (paraphrase) "the idea in pairing is to match the beer with something that complements the taste of the beer, not just copy it" which must have been confusing to the chefs since they were apparently told to copy it.

[Adultosaurus]

Phillip, who is ostensibly a grown ass man, needs to stop saying "Yummy food".  

[snowblossom2]

Actually, the judges did eat straight off the rock, because the oyster was not served in its shell - the edible part was placed directly on the rock.

Thanks for the clarification and upon rewatch, the issue was there was nothing on a plate so they couldn't eat anything

[Bunnyhop]

When Isaac was making his banannaise, I kept thinking why not make banana ketchup. http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/02/banana-ketchup-recipe.html

Angelina needed to go. She was an aggressively mediocre chef.

I grew up in the South and ate banana and mayonnaise sandwiches on white bread pretty often.  I'm in my 60's and still have one occasionally.  I certainly don't think I made the sandwich up all by myself, but none of my relatives have ever owned up to eating such a thing.  Anyway, they're pretty good!

[fivestone]

I grew up in the South and ate banana and mayonnaise sandwiches on white bread pretty often.  I'm in my 60's and still have one occasionally.  I certainly don't think I made the sandwich up all by myself, but none of my relatives have ever owned up to eating such a thing.  Anyway, they're pretty good!

 

I grew up on banana and mayonnaise as well (I also tried banana and peanut butter on my own and liked it). I'm in my mid 30s, but my grandmother and great aunt were the ones making the sandwiches for me. Anyway, I find banana and mayonnaise to be a winning combination!