S16.E11: The Greatest

[CheetaraThunder]

Eric is definitely the front runner now, with Kelsey and Adrienne right behind, and Eric is definitely my favorite, but I always have this feeling that he either will get shafted right before the finale or just lose out.

[oldCJ]

6 hours ago, The Solution said:

What is with everyone pickling everything? Not a fan of pickled food.

It’s an easy way to get acid into a dish. But I agree, not a fan. 

[RealityWatcher]

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. 

Edited February 15, 2019 by RealityWatcher
Sorry, that was supposed to be in response to CheetaraThunder.

[ChiefWiggum9-1-2]

I’m not sure Laila Ali was too enthralled with the winning dish at all. “Interesting texture” is like saying someone has a “great personality.”  I’m guessing Eric won that round completely on the story. 

Also, whenever Art Smith appears on any TV show, are the producers contractually bound to mention that he cooked for Oprah and the Obamas? 

[biakbiak]

5 minutes ago, ChiefWiggum9-1-2 said:

I’m guessing Eric won that round completely on the story. 

Also, whenever Art Smith appears on any TV show, are the producers contractually bound to mention that he cooked for Oprah and the Obamas? 

I don’t think so the others seemed to love it. Fufu, the one part of the dish that she was referring to and that Tom really liked, does in fact have a texture that can be devisive. As I mentioned upthread Eric mentioned on a podcast last week that he doesn’t actually like it.

Edited February 15, 2019 by biakbiak

[Ellee]

9 hours ago, catrice2 said:

What is with this calling people mama?  At least they have a relationship.  I placed a take out order the other day the female server kept calling me mama.  It bothered me so much it took everything I had not to say something to her.  Is this a regional thing? I also hate when people call me "hon."   Ugh!!  

So is it about the food, or about the story?  I am confused. 

That’s my question too!  Is it food or story?  I watch for the food.  

So let me get this straight ...  when I order food at a restaurant am I supposed to ask for the story behind the dish?  

PS   I’m a ‘honey’ ‘dear’ person.  I woke up one day and people’s names just disappeared.  Lol, I’d get the deer-caught-in the headlights look when I’d see someone I knew.  Now it’s probably more habit than necessity at times ... just saying so you know but I understand the Ugh feeling.   Knowing that ... is it wrong of me not to like the ‘mama’ thing?

Edited February 15, 2019 by Ellee

[LennieBriscoe]

I not only lived through the Ali era; my father and I listened to radio broadcasts of when Ali fought as Cassius Clay, the most memorable fight's being  vs Sonny Liston. 

Mohammed Ali was the Civil Rights/Viet Nam Conflict Era personified. But when HIS champion became the late,  great Howard Cosell, Americans started to look anew at this charismatic Olympic victor,  a Black man who came home with his Gold Medal to be refused service "For Whites Only." I'm just going to leave this truncated bio here,  and say that I agree with the 1971 Supreme Court decision:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali

 I'm in Eastern PA.  Anybody calls me "Mama" better have ear-blister ointment handy. I ain't nobody's Mama. 

Edited February 15, 2019 by LennieBriscoe

[Bucket]

I am fine with Eddy going but he missed a good story for his dish.  He got the only time Ali lost.  White meat chicken doesn't win.  So he chose a meat that is not a winner and cooked it beautifully.  The dish was simple and not showy because he lost and he and fans were not celebrating.  

Edited February 15, 2019 by Bucket

[HappyDancex2]

2 hours ago, ChiefWiggum9-1-2 said:

I’m not sure Laila Ali was too enthralled with the winning dish at all. “Interesting texture” is like saying someone has a “great personality.”  I’m guessing Eric won that round completely on the story. 

Also, whenever Art Smith appears on any TV show, are the producers contractually bound to mention that he cooked for Oprah and the Obamas? 

Oh this for sure.  Does Art need this intro in any way shape or form???  Not to mention it seems so dated.  It’s not like it’s the only thing he’s done and he’s had to ride that to make a living doing the judging circuit.

Eric won because of a well crafted story and because he’s being judged against dishes like bread pudding, pickled cucumbers and chicken with 2 sauces.  They loved Sara’s story as well.  I feel like if I were dropped into Top Chef Estonia and made oatmeal with crushed Wheaties and fresh fruit topping and told some story about how in America it’s the warming food of the people.....breakfast of champions, magically reduces cholesterol (LOL) it would be the same thing.  Even better if I could rip it open from a package.  It feels like next week the quick fire is going to be a fried chicken challenge using hidden valley ranch.

[HappyDancex2]

1 hour ago, Bucket said:

I am fine with Eddy going but he missed a good story for his dish.  He got the only time Ali lost.  White meat chicken doesn't win.  So he chose a meat that is not a winner and cooked it beautifully.  The dish was simple and not showy because he lost and he and fans were not celebrating.  

I was floored that he constructed a dish needing duck.  Fresh duck is not standard in Whole Foods, frozen is.  Unless he mistakenly remembered a special some week when they were shopping?  That store is not close to being large enough to being stocked with fresh duck.  Whole Foods is pretty generic in it’s protein offerings.

He did kind of capture Ali’s loss.  It looked like sadness on a plate.

[Bucket]

1 minute ago, HappyDancex2 said:

I was floored that he constructed a dish needing duck.  Fresh duck is not standard in Whole Foods, frozen is.  Unless he mistakenly remembered a special some week when they were shopping?  That store is not close to being large enough to being stocked with fresh duck.  Whole Foods is pretty generic in it’s protein offerings.

He did kind of capture Ali’s loss.  It looked like sadness on a plate.

Note to self:  If you are dosing off while watching, not a good idea to post!  I can rework the story around duck.  Give me a minute. lol 

[Fukui San]

2 hours ago, Ellee said:

That’s my question too!  Is it food or story?  I watch for the food.  

So let me get this straight ...  when I order food at a restaurant am I supposed to ask for the story behind the dish?  

PS   I’m a ‘honey’ ‘dear’ person.  I woke up one day and people’s names just disappeared.  Lol, I’d get the deer-caught-in the headlights look when I’d see someone I knew.  Now it’s probably more habit than necessity at times ... just saying so you know but I understand the Ugh feeling.   Knowing that ... is it wrong of me not to like the ‘mama’ thing?

Given that every recipe you look up nowadays comes with a 10 page essay prologue, maybe they could have a challenge that's entirely about the story.

[ChiefWiggum9-1-2]

41 minutes ago, Fukui San said:

Given that every recipe you look up nowadays comes with a 10 page essay prologue, maybe they could have a challenge that's entirely about the story.

I love finding new IP recipes, but it's usually 10 minutes of scrolling . . . cats . . . scrolling . . . mamaw (abuela/nonna) . . . scrolling . . . tears . . . scrolling . . . more cats.  Just give me the recipe!

My favorite chefs this season have all gone out, not for bad cooking, but for not throwing a party or not coming up with a good story.  Like those people who wax nostalgic about MTV - remember when they usta played music? - Remember when Top Chef was about cooking?

[seaELare]

52 minutes ago, Fukui San said:

Given that every recipe you look up nowadays comes with a 10 page essay prologue, maybe they could have a challenge that's entirely about the story.

OMG this!  Give me the list of ingredients and preparation instructions right off the top then you can post your pages long ode to food.  

[LBS]

My two favorite non-cooking things of the Quick fire was 1.  Padma's direct exasperated look to the camera when Adrienne guessed "dried thyme" three times in a row and 2. Eddie getting the toothpick stuck in his blindfold. Oh Eddie.... never change.

I thought Eddie was the right choice to PKAG.  His chicken probably tasted amazing but it looked so pedestrian.  I've seen plates like that at wedding receptions.   I really like Eric and was convinced that he was getting the phone call home from death edit.  Speaking of that infamous edit - the magical elves are really moving from that and it's confusing me!  🙂 

[Straycat80]

I was surprised they voted Eddie out, he was doing so well. Hope he comes back from LCK. 

I live in an area famous for fried chicken, KFC is considered fast food crap, so it was funny watching them praise it so much. 

I want to try fufu now, it looked good. 

[BoffoDaWonderSheep]

I'll miss Eddie. I liked when he "paid it backwards" by giving his excess cash at Whole Foods to the next chef in line. I guess maybe it was residual guilt from the "Eddie Money" episode.

[Chit Chat]

12 hours ago, The Solution said:

What is with everyone pickling everything? Not a fan of pickled food.

Apparently Padma likes things "vinegar forward."  That was her comment.  IMO, a little vinegar goes a long way!

10 hours ago, Giselle said:

I've heard from many older than me that KFC now is no where near what they used to serve in terms of flavor and quality.

I don't think it's as good as it used to be.  I once heard that they changed their cooking oil (I don't know if that's true,) but something changed with their chicken.  I've gotten it where it was too greasy, as if they threw it back in the fryer several times if it had sat for awhile.  I was surprised to see this particular show feature KFC.  I thought this kind of food was well below their standards!  

[Giselle]

36 minutes ago, BoffoDaWonderSheep said:

I'll miss Eddie. I liked when he "paid it backwards" by giving his excess cash at Whole Foods to the next chef in line. I guess maybe it was residual guilt from the "Eddie Money" episode.

My thought was that it was a throwaway line.  Wouldn't it be against the rules and give an advantage? They each were to have only so much money to purchase  ingredients. 

[Eulipian 5k]

12 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

I've found that west African food in its purest form is often a hard sell to other cultures. It often breaks all of the "rules" that these judges like to see. There aren't a lot of texture variations in the food.

In the West Indies growing up every house had a mortar and pestle to grind flour to make fu-fu; a floor standing one not the little containers you grind spices in, the  pestle was about 4 feet long and real heavy for a kid! One way to add texture that Tom would love is to fold sliced okra! into the "dumpling"

Edited February 15, 2019 by Eulipian 5k
slices not whole

[biakbiak]

31 minutes ago, Giselle said:

My thought was that it was a throwaway line.  Wouldn't it be against the rules and give an advantage? They each were to have only so much money to purchase  ingredients. 

Chefs can buy other chefs ingredients if they want it’s been done before. Chefs have also bought non challenge related things with their money.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I still remember when Cassius Clay became Ali, I thought my father would have a stroke (not the most progressive person believe me), and then when the entire draft situation came up.       Damn I'm old.   I never saw how either situation affected my father, but he certainly ranted about it a lot.  

 However, I admired the way Ali stood up for his beliefs, and helped so many in his community.   Seeing him light the Olympic torch was amazing.       It was so sad to see his decline.     

I think there's a difference between using pancake or waffle mix, and something like hot sauce that you really couldn't make on your own, because the brands are such specific taste profiles, and take so long to age.  

Edited February 15, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[Eulipian 5k]

6 hours ago, RealityWatcher said:

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.

He also liked Kwame, Season ?, who dabbled in the same cuisine. The sniff-and-sneer walk thru with Tom and Adrienne that Filipino cooking is not Chinese, or Thai, or Vietnamese was hilarious to see; but she came up with a quick story.

They've done many "Tell your story with your food" challenges before and I really liked the travelogue included in how this challenge worked out. Sara masterfully shoehorned the Thunder and Lightning story into one word of Ali's story.

Edited February 15, 2019 by Eulipian 5k
Tenses!

[seltzer3]

I totally was expecting Adrienne to not get any spices in the blind tasting.  I was cracking up when she kept guessing thyme over and over again.  Then she gets to thyme and guesses something else.

Then Adrienne talks about how she's familiar with filipino food, because she has experience with south east asian food, specifically vietnamese?  Uh, not all asian countries are the same.

In terms of West African cooking.  I have some of the food, primarily the stew, and those take a long time to make.  I don't know how Eric got it done in such a short amount of time.  I also was expecting Eric to microwave the fufu, since that is a cheat way of getting things done.

[Snewtsie]

13 hours ago, Fukui San said:

My favorite part of the episode:

Tom: He used fish to represent Lewiston, Maine? That's nowhere near the ocean.*

THE PREVIOUS COURSE

Tom: Yes, Kentucky salmon. That's a thing we are all familiar with.

*By the way, lifelong masshole who vacationed in Maine for most of my life on the coast in the summer and skiing in the winter. Would not have known that Lewiston is *checks map* a whole thirty minute drive from the ocean.

I'm pretty tired of Tom's sarcasm.  I'm on the west coast & have never been to Maine, but I rolled my eyes when Tom criticized a seafood inspiration for Maine.  Even if not directly a seaside town, I thought, "yeah but it can't be that far from the coast... it's Maine, right?"  Color me simple, I guess.  The cheftestants are pretty darn creative in the time they are allotted, and I wish Tom would cut them some slack.  I used to love Tom's warm personality, but now I see a disgruntled guy who enjoys slinging insults just for the sake of it.  I miss the old Tom.

[dleighg]

4 minutes ago, Snewtsie said:

Even if not directly a seaside town, I thought, "yeah but it can't be that far from the coast... it's Maine, right?" 

yeah, it's not like the fish has to walk to the restaurant.

[HappyDancex2]

18 minutes ago, Snewtsie said:

I'm pretty tired of Tom's sarcasm.  I'm on the west coast & have never been to Maine, but I rolled my eyes when Tom criticized a seafood inspiration for Maine.  Even if not directly a seaside town, I thought, "yeah but it can't be that far from the coast... it's Maine, right?"  Color me simple, I guess.  The cheftestants are pretty darn creative in the time they are allotted, and I wish Tom would cut them some slack.  I used to love Tom's warm personality, but now I see a disgruntled guy who enjoys slinging insults just for the sake of it.  I miss the old Tom.

I agree.  Tom acts like he's over this whole thing.   They could use some fresh blood tbh.   Tom and Padma are kind of the faces of TC but Tom doesn't really have anything left to say and Padma is just amusing herself by her makeup and wardrobe choices now.   It's like the entire show is a parody of itself.   We've all accepted Hidden Valley Ranch as a normalized partner of the show on the same level as Terlato wines.   KFC chicken challenge warranted barely a snicker from all of us....just exasperated sighs.

I will also say that it was ironic that they were talking about having opinions or something and that not everybody needed to agree but they had to be tolerant of all opinions etc. and then flashed to Tom with a half hearted nod.  Serious LOL on that one.   Tom is pretty intolerant of anyone who differs in opinion from him.  He barely does the "we should agree to disagree" thing in a cooking environment.   His conviction is admirable but boy does he come off as dismissive most of the time.  I enjoy his severely edited TV persona a lot more....more past than present.

[Eulipian 5k]

11 hours ago, biakbiak said:

11 hours ago, chabelisaywow said:

So Adrienne gave Sarah shit for boxed waffle mix - but she uses bottle hot sauce?  Uh OK.

On a dish with several components and other heat sources not a chicken and hot sauce dish not the same at all. I thought Tom was weird for even pointing it out since lots of people have used purchased hot sauces as a component in the past. Not to mention she had reinvented her dish after she had shopped. 

Heh, KARMA is a soggy waffle soaked in hot sauce.

I remember Sam (Season 2) and the Chefs going on and on about Sriracha sauce, even using it in ice cream IIRC. My Dad made his own pepper sauce; there wasn't a dry , unburnt eye in the house! (The grandkids put on their sunglasses thinking it would help. LOL)

[politichick]

23 minutes ago, Straycat80 said:

I was surprised they voted Eddie out, he was doing so well. Hope he comes back from LCK. 

I live in an area famous for fried chicken, KFC is considered fast food crap, so it was funny watching them praise it so much. 

I want to try fufu now, it looked good. 

Fufu is good, but you have to have a good sauce to go with it. If you live in a city where there is an African population, find out where they shop because you can buy it in a box that is pretty good. 

[carrps]

15 hours ago, RealityWatcher said:

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!

That's the coolest story in the world!

14 hours ago, Bastet said:

I toyed with that idea, too.  I've only had KFC once - it was about 15 years ago on a road trip - but I know the umpteen herbs/spices recipe is a trade secret guarded like Ft. Knox, so I briefly wondered if they'd be asked to taste the chicken (I'm assuming KFC has different flavor options, so one version per chef, two chefs for each version, whatever) and try to replicate it, with whomever's tasted the most like the KFC version they were trying to replicate being the winner.  But then I figured that it would be hard to judge and they wouldn't even want to mess with the chefs all talking about what flavors they detected in the KFC chicken.

It's weird they did KFC this week, because I had it for the first time in years. I was stuck without my car, and DoorDash doesn't go to Dinah's my fav chicken place, so I got some KFC. Really bad! Soggy. Not spicy. The chicken was icky. The mashed potatoes tasted like boxed flakes. Biscuits were hard as rocks. Sigh.

All the talk of Ghanian food is coincidental, too. I just finished reading a book called "Homegoing." It begins in the 1700s with two half sisters who never met and follows the strands of their descendants -- one side to slavery in America and the other staying in Ghana. There were lots of descriptions of food. I remember fufu. Also, that huge pestle! 

[RealityWatcher]

2 hours ago, ChitChat said:

I don't think it's as good as it used to be.  I once heard that they changed their cooking oil (I don't know if that's true,) but something changed with their chicken.  I've gotten it where it was too greasy, as if they threw it back in the fryer several times if it had sat for awhile.  I was surprised to see this particular show feature KFC.  I thought this kind of food was well below their standards!  

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. 

[Mahamid Frauded Me]

I had a co-worker years back start calling me mama, I finally told her, hey I am not a mama.. so quit calling me that.. 

Starting to dislike Sarah, she is kinda coming off as a whiny complainer... 

[biakbiak]

I don’t mind mama as used i this show because it appears to be something specific to Adrienne and Sarah.

[WendyM]

I could have sworn that NotGail--after fangurling all over Laila Ali--proceeded to called her LIE-la during the dinner. Gail would never do that! I miss Gail.

I like all of these chefs with the exception of Sara. (And that was before the boxed waffle mix! That just sealed the deal.) I'll be sad to see them go, one by one. 

[BullInChina]

52 minutes ago, Snewtsie said:

Even if not directly a seaside town, I thought, "yeah but it can't be that far from the coast... it's Maine, right?" 

Lewiston is about an hour from the coast, and not the kind of place you would associate with fishing or seafood at all. It was a manufacturing/mill town for many generations, and is now working on reinventing itself because most of that is gone. A lot of French Canadians settled there to work in the mills, so their cuisine is very popular (ployes, yummy). Also there's a large Greek population. Somali too, although they were not there at the time of the Ali fight. So I got Tom's point, although whether he's actually been to Lewiston himself . . . . well, who knows, maybe he has, it is starting to become a bit of a foodie town now. 

[kirklandia]

When they announced the theme of the EC, I hoped Laila Ali would appear.  I confess to having a girl crush on her - I don't dig boxing, based totally on reality TV.  She was amazing on Dancing With the Stars.  Loved her on Chopped.  And I could listen to her lovely warm voice all day.  

[Eulipian 5k]

If the Chef didn't have salt to use in his Quick Fire, how can he take Soy sauce from the pantry to use.?

Isn't that like, "I didn't get Cumin, but I can take curry powder from the Pantry"?

[dleighg]

5 minutes ago, Eulipian 5k said:

If the Chef didn't have salt to use in his Quick Fire, how can he take Soy sauce from the pantry to use.?

Isn't that like, "I didn't get Cumin, but I can take curry powder from the Pantry"?

apparently the rule was "you can't use any herbs and spices, but you *can* use "condiments."

[Bucket]

1 hour ago, Snewtsie said:

I'm pretty tired of Tom's sarcasm.  I'm on the west coast & have never been to Maine, but I rolled my eyes when Tom criticized a seafood inspiration for Maine.  Even if not directly a seaside town, I thought, "yeah but it can't be that far from the coast... it's Maine, right?"  Color me simple, I guess.  The cheftestants are pretty darn creative in the time they are allotted, and I wish Tom would cut them some slack.  I used to love Tom's warm personality, but now I see a disgruntled guy who enjoys slinging insults just for the sake of it.  I miss the old Tom.

The comment about Lewiston not being on the coast was silly.  I lived in north central MA which was 1.5 hours to the coast.  Every market had fresh fish and lobster tanks.  Lewiston ME is closer to the coast than I was. 

I still like Tom though. 

[Bucket]

3 hours ago, Straycat80 said:

I was surprised they voted Eddie out, he was doing so well. Hope he comes back from LCK. 

I live in an area famous for fried chicken, KFC is considered fast food crap, so it was funny watching them praise it so much. 

I want to try fufu now, it looked good. 

Not surprised at Eddie leaving.  Not a great dish and he has a grating personality and his eyebrows are not good.  ;D

I wanted to fall face forward in that Fufu.  Just found a restaurant 24 mins from my house that serves fufu!  Its name is Fufu Cuisine serving African and Caribbean food!  Love Carribean food. 

Edited February 15, 2019 by Bucket

[dleighg]

3 minutes ago, Bucket said:

Not surprised at Eddie leaving.  Not a great dish

I thought that dish was seriously unattractive. Looked like rubber chicken and two sides of baby food.

[Bucket]

Doing a quick pickle on vegetables is really good.  I have done it since I ate my first Bahn Mi sandwich which had lightly pickled jicama and carrots julienned.  The pickling is very mild and adds a fabulous touch to all kinds of sandwiches and meat or any rich dish.  It is not like an actual pickle which is way too salty and puckery* to me. 

* new word

Edited February 15, 2019 by Bucket

[carrps]

1 minute ago, Bucket said:

Doing a quick pickle on vegetables is really good.  I have done it since I ate my first Bahn Mi sandwich which had lightly pickled jicama and carrots julienned.  The pickling is very mild and adds a fabulous touch to all kinds of sandwiches and meat or any rich dish.  It is not like an actual pickle which is way too salty for me. 

Seriously. It's the pickled veggies in the Bahn Mi that makes it so addictive for me.

[Empress1]

Eric is my favorite! I wanted to be more bummed about Philly boy Eddie leaving, but I wasn't.

1 hour ago, Mahamid Frauded Me said:

I had a co-worker years back start calling me mama, I finally told her, hey I am not a mama.. so quit calling me that.. 

I would loathe this, not because I'm not a mother but because I'd find it entirely too familiar. I don't know you like that, you call me by my first name. However, it seems like Adrienne and Sarah do have a relationship where that's OK and Adrienne immediate acquiesced to Sarah telling her to call her Sarah when she was upset about the waffle mix.

I was cracking up when Adrienne just kept guessing thyme. I kind of want to do that test at home to see how I do.

[Bucket]

2 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

Eric is my favorite! I wanted to be more bummed about Philly boy Eddie leaving, but I wasn't.

I would loathe this, not because I'm not a mother but because I'd find it entirely too familiar. I don't know you like that, you call me by my first name. However, it seems like Adrienne and Sarah do have a relationship where that's OK and Adrienne immediate acquiesced to Sarah telling her to call her Sarah when she was upset about the waffle mix.

I was cracking up when Adrienne just kept guessing thyme. I kind of want to do that test at home to see how I do.

I would not mind being called Mama or Mrs like they do in England or Miss, even dear.  Just do not call me ma'am!  Do not. I hate it.  People think it is being courteous and proper, it is not. 

[Eulipian 5k]

7 hours ago, LennieBriscoe said:

I not only lived through the Ali era; my father and I listened to radio broadcasts of when Ali fought as Cassius Clay, the most memorable fight's being  vs Sonny Liston. 

I remember waiting the day after the Smokin Joe / Madison Square Garden fight to see the color pictures Frank Sinatra took at ring side for the Daily News. I mean Nelson friggin Mandela in his jail cell looked up to Ali.

BTW Eddie blew it, instead of the stupid "ducks symbolize NYC", (wth?), he could have called it the MSG Fight and gone to town on that now resurrected magic ingredient.

[HunterHunted]

3 hours ago, Eulipian 5k said:

He also liked Kwame, Season ?, who dabbled in the same cuisine.

I find Kwame's food to be more innovative and masterful than what Eric has done. Eric's food is probably good, but it seems slightly more straightforward than Kwame's. West African food has the "advantage" of not being well known so Eric has the benefits of no preconceived notion on how the food should taste.

[Eulipian 5k]

Laila's son with the Greatest grandpa

[Bucket]

1 hour ago, HunterHunted said:

..... West African food has the "advantage" of not being well known so Eric has the benefits of no preconceived notion on how the food should taste.

I agree and it thrills me because he is my favorite.  I have yet to read someone having another favorite.  I am sure they do, just have only see praises for Eric. 

[seltzer3]

23 minutes ago, Bucket said:

I agree and it thrills me because he is my favorite.  I have yet to read someone having another favorite.  I am sure they do, just have only see praises for Eric. 

I really hope West African food (Ghanian in particular) really catches on.  Its really good and comforting.  Somali food is another cuisine that is really good as well.  I feel like both get looked down on, because it doesn't look very aesthetically pleasing.