Last week on Top Chef Kentucky, we lost Justin Sutherland in the elimination round leaving Eric Adjepong as the last man standing. Eric, Sara Bradley, Kelsey Barnard Clark, Michelle Minori,and Adrienne Wright are officially the top five chefs of Top Chef Kentucky! The top five chefs hopped a flight to Macau where they will fight to the finish!
Top Chef Kentucky’s top five chefs sure did get some prime real estate in Macau! There multi-level suite is gorgeous! Graham Elliot shows up to check it out! Graham Elliot has a restaurant in Macau. Because, of course he does. He is there to take everyone shopping in the red market. I want to go to the red market with Graham! It’s raining. So, the throngs short people are all carrying weapons at eye level. If you are tall, you know what I’m talking about. At least the top five chefs have mushroom-shaped bumbershoots to act as shields.
Graham Elliot’s Tour Of The Red Market
The Red Market is full of many wondrous things. I can’t imagine what it smells like there. Graham gives the top five chefs a very fast-paced lesson on all things creepy and odd in the market. Kelsey knows right away she is going to need this information for the quickfire. Graham buys an assortment of oddities including one very large eel and a variety of shellfish that you won’t find at Whole Foods. In addition to the eel, the other proteins include gum fish, cuttlefish, sea snails, giant scallops, and razor clams.
On the roof of red market, the top five chefs draw knives for the proteins. Sara gets first choice and takes the scallops. Kelsey chooses the gum fish. Michelle takes cuttlefish. That would be my last choice. The only thing I know about cuttlefish is the bone inside is that white thing that people put in bird cages for parrots to snack on. Yuck. Eric chooses the sea snails. Adrienne takes the razor clams. I would have taken the razor clams. I do a lot of clam soup Asiany things with clams. And if you could get your hands on some pasta, they would make a great clam sauce.
The Quickfire
The top five chefs have $25 to spend in the market to round out their dish. Unfortunately, the time they spend shopping for these items counts against their 45 minute total cook time. I love that Sara studied the language on the plane and learned the basics: cuss words, please and thank you. If she had learned how to order a beer she would have been as fluent as she needed to be. Michelle is grazing her way through the market place. Is that a thing you should do?
Kelsey found a nice old lady who is deciding what she needs to buy. For example, she purchased a bag of white stuff. Apparently, it was highly recommended by the local lady. She should totally use it. Whatever it is. I mean would you rather die in Macau, or live never having been to Macau?
The Judge’s Decision
Sara’s giant scallops are huge and firm and nothing like regular sea scallops. She might be screwed. Kelsey‘s white powder is corn starch. Yay! Everyone is going to live. AND, apparently they use corn starch not flour for frying in Macau. Bonus! Adrienne is making ceviche with her razor scallops. *YAWN* Michelle is pleased with her cuttlefish. Eric’s sea snails may be a bit on the chewy side.
Eric’s chewy sea snails and Sara’s tasteless giant scallops landed them in the bottom. Michelle won the quickfire narrowly beating out Kelsey. SIGH.
The Elimination Challenge
Chef Jowett Yu joins Padma Lakshmi and Graham Elliot to judge the top five chefs in the elimination challenge. He is an expert in Cantonese food. The final five Top Chefs appear to have come to China just in time for the Chinese New Year! They will be feeding 200 of Chef Yu’s family members and friends at a New Year’s Eve celebration! To help the chefs with such a Herculean task, five former Top Chefs have been flown in to help them. There are five guys with platters of ingredients representing five different areas of prosperity for the new year. They must use all of the ingredients from the chef’s platter they choose. Also, not other chef will have those ingredients.
Michelle chooses David Viana, who has peaches, noodle and peanuts representing longevity. She smartly chose David because he is Portuguese. He was also recently nominated for a James Beard Award. Macau was Portuguese territory until 1999 and all the signs in Macau or in both Portuguese and Chinese. Adrienne chose Brian Young, he has ginger, broccoli and eggs representing good health. Sara chose Eddi Konrad who has happiness. They didn’t tell us what the ingredients were for happiness. WE NEED TO KNOW THIS! Kelsey choose Brandon Rosen, one of the pompadour chefs. He has three mysterious ingredients representing wealth. That leaves our two favorite beards to reunite as Eric get Justin Sutherland. Their basket had water chestnuts, coconut and lychee representing togetherness.
I am so happy Justin got to come to Macau, coming in sixth and just missing such a life-changing trip would be awful.
Planning the Meal
They are there for the Year of the Pig. So pork will be their main protein. Except this is all fake because the new year just started on February 5th and there is no way this show turned around three episodes filmed out of the country in that amount of time. Sorry for breaking the fourth wall.
Eric wants to do some sort of a curry. Le sigh. At least curry is from the same continent. I think I might have seen some curry in the Asian store. Plus it’s Eric. He’s good. He has water chestnuts, coconut and lychee.
Michelle is doing a dumpling of some sort. Thing will be finalized by what she finds at the market. I hate that she is taking such a smart approach. She my beat my two southern girls. Again. She has earned her place in the top five chefs.
Adrienne is planning on Brian to braise her pork. That’s not what a sous chef does. She will be making a broccoli salad. Because she makes a salad every fucking week.
The Southern Girls Keep It Southern
Kelsey’s wealth ingredients are oranges, cashews and cabbage. Unfortunately, she can’t get out of her southern roots to focus on a menu. She’s talking to Brandon about southern New Years where we eat blacked peas, turnip greens and cornbread. Don’t fuck this up Kelsey! Brandon has some expertise in Chinese food. YAY! Kelsey goes back to the market to see her favorite vendor with Brandon.
Sara’s happiness ingredients were cauliflower, shrimp and walnuts. I have all of those things! She is just like Kelsey and wanting to keep it southern. I just don’t think this is the time for that. Shrimp and cauliflower grits is not shrimp and grits. You need to go either Portuguese or Chinese! What is wrong with these people?
Cooking Drama
How in the name of all that is holy has Kelsey never cooked dried blackeyed peas and why is she doing it now? She has also scratched her pork belly because Adrienne and Bryan are doing that. Actually, I think Michelle has pork belly in her dumplings as well. Oh Kelsey! What are you thinking, girlfriend? You have to soak those peas overnight or parboil them first! Then she over cooks them.
Adrienne is making rice while Brian does everything else.
The Chinese New Year Party
Chef Jowett Yu seemed quite pleased with Michelle’s dumpling dish. I think she has this win in the bag. Tom and Graham were fans of her pickled peach. We didn’t see all the praise because I think she won.
Rule Number One, Never Scald A Judges Palate
Tom Colicchio appears out of nowhere with Graham Elliot. Did I just not notice him earlier in this episode? They are underwhelmed by Adrienne’s dish. It’s mediocre and lacks umami or depth. This competition is won or lost according to how Tom uses the ridiculous buzzword of 2016 “umami.” Adrienne, you in danger girl. Then she serves Padma a bite that is so hot it burns her mouth. YES! Adrienne is going home!
The Beards Were A Surprising Let Down
Padma and Chef Yu sample Eric’s braised pork shoulder and pigs ear in a coconut curry. Padma doesn’t think the chili is hot enough. Everyone knows this about Padma, Eric. You have to blow her head off with the spice. I’m just rying to imagine lychee glazed pork ears. Or not imagine them as the case may be. Chef Yu wanted some rice in the dish to soak up the liquid. Ut oh. Tom and Graham said it was too sweet and needed a pop of acid. As long as I have taken with this recap, I feel like I’ve had a pop of acid.
Team Southern Girls
Tom Colicchio and Graham Elliot seem to really like Sara’s shrimp and cauliflower grits. Tom says the fermented black bean gives “depth.” Depth is one step away from umami in Colicchioese. Sara has a shot at this. Or not. Chef Yu said the prawn was quite rich (he meant in a bad way) and Padma said it was very salty.
I do not understand how Kelsey’s dish has anything to do with blackeyed peas and greens. She says that and then gives them mushroom broth (gross) and blacked peas with some kind of unknown green, Portuguese sausage,cashews and cilantro. Cilantro? I’m kind of mortified by this concoction. Padma says she has done a good job incorporating her roots in the dish. So says the Indian woman. This southern girl is appalled. Chef Wu says it has lots of vegetables and tastes healthy. That’s Chinese for what is this shit?
Look at Kelsey work Tom Colicchio! She smiled and said, “Anything I saw in the market that I thought was umami I put in that broth.” Way to butter him up and speak his language! Graham Elliot fell under her spell too. Oh Graham. I had such faith in you,
Judges Table
The liked the chefs who wove their own stories in the dish. Kelsey and Michelle were top two. Is Kelsey going to umami her way into a win? YES! YES SHE DID! Kelsey wins! Sigh. I love Kelsey but her talk with Tom won her this challenge. Michelle was robbed.
Mon Dieu! Chefs Arguing With The Judges?
Oh MY GOD ERIC! SHUT UP! Adrienne is the clear loser of this challenge. You don’t get to respectfully disagree with Padma. EV-VER! You just bought yourself a plane ticket home!
Tom points out to Sara that cauliflower grits are not grits. Padma said that Sara’s dish was too salty from the ham hock. This is not a thing in the south. I’m just sayin’.
Graham Elliot tells Adrienne that a one bite dish wasn’t appropriate for Chinese New Year. Adrienne thankfully one ups Eric by disagreeing with Graham! Tom says he didn’t taste the ginger. Adrienne says the ginger was everywhere in her dish. Yes, please keep talking Adrienne.
Adrienne is eliminated. They didn’t get a sense of generosity from her dish. I don’t think we have seen any generosity with Adrienne this season.
I don’t watch this show and haven’t even heard of it, but am here solely for the purpose of worshiping at the altar of your pun “Holy Macau”. It’s fabulous. I’m sure even Batman is kvelling about it somewhere.
Alas, I am not that witty at this hour. It’s the actual name of the episode.
I watched, too sleepy to really comment, I wish I had an easy way to send px from South Korea markets. I’ve smelled worse at my local AZ chain grocery store. These chefs did awesome!
Great episode! I love the exotic locales with their markets. You can just imagine the smells. This season feels much too short but I feel that way every season.
I figured near the beginning of the episode that Adrienne has had her time, though. Eric really should have gone home with his dish, but the judges love him too much. He has been my favorite for a long time but he is just not bringing it these past few episodes. Also Tom loved Sarah’s dish then trashed it at the judges table.
Kelsey’s vegetable soup for the win!
The season seems shorter this year, I am sorry there are only two episodes left, but at least there are four worthy chefs for the next episode. Eric needs to up his game.
I still have a feeling that Eric will win. I am certain he will be in the final two.
Tom could not get enough of Sara’s dish and then indeed did an about face at the judges table.
I feel like this week was a rah rah for a couple of female chefs in advance of Eric’s win. It’s all very, see? We like women chefs! It was clear that Chef Wu in particular and Padma to a lesser degree did not like Kelseys dish. Then the judges table was like a work of fiction.
I think you are unfortunately right. Let’s all see the females lose against the obviously superior male chef.
I do wonder if the judges were swayed by who told the best story rather than umami 😅. Dumbest word ever! Anyway, the chefs are likable this year. I certainly would be thrown with a market full of strange ingredients.
Umami, Japanese for “deliciousness,” is one more wonderful word ruined by overuse and trendiness. (“Awesome” is my big peeve. Everything from a brand of toilet paper to Malania’s fingernails is “awesome.” Actually, the invention of toilet paper IS pretty awesome, but not as much as the bidet.) For an interesting history, check out Science Diction.
Cilantro = Coriander = Chinese parsley.
How can these CHEFS not know about durian? And 1,000-day-old egg (aka 100 day)?
Hung hay fat choy and good BYE at last Adrienne.
TT, cuttlefish would have been my last choice too. Because they are smart, and cute and FLIRTATIOUS. Honest. And related to the emotional and intelligent octopus. There are four excellent books about the intelligence and soul of the octopus and a delightful children’s book “Violet the Hugging Octopus.” I lived blocks from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and learned a lot of personal stories about cephalopods. Sorry to hork the post, but they are so fascinating. And now I can’t eat a favorite food.
When I first started blogging the a wise and wonderful mentor told me she doesn’t read the comments on her site.
Over seven years later, I get why.
TT!!!!!!! You are the best.
‘Veg-forward Sara’–what are you thinking? Nothing Chinese new year about that dish. Awww, shucks none of them really did a job worthy of their location and the occasion. Dumplings, long unbroken noodles, long unbroken anything, fish! ….and I only have my local suburban Chinese restaurant as a reference. Geesh!
I agree. I also don’t think Adrienne ever cooked anything on the show. It was salad after salad.
totally agree with you although I have to confess I don’t care for Eric. Too much reliance on Ghana. Yes, we understand your struggle and yes we identify with it as we are immigrants as well. Now get your head around ‘top’ chef–yup ‘top’ chef–that’s the name. show us how you are the top chef, not just your Ghanaian roots
As opposed to the two Southern girls who want to make blackedeyed peas and turnip greens and the other who had to make fake grits to know what to cook in Macau? Or the salad girl from Vermont?
I would expect that when one travels to a foreign country to cook the highlight the local ingredients and not try to reinvent grits and blackeyed peas and focus on the traditions of the CHINESE new year.
The judges on the other hand were all “We love how you kept to your roots” when my opinion was “I hate how you are cooking the same thing in Macau that you make at home.”
Nope, no argument here, I agree with you. I want someone with Top Chef talents. Didn’t someone refuse to come back via LCK b/c of the process? Don’t recall whom–Brother maybe? Good article in the NYP about Top Chef being se**st and it perhaps being time for them to ‘take their knives and go’.
TT I’ve read your comments and watched more carefully and Tom C is definitely biased against women. Is he not in the 21st century? I’m so glad there are mostly women in the finals. Go girls!
I have a question for all of the Top Chef watchers…do you think there is a difference in how women and men taste the dishes? As in why the vagicide?
Tom has a reputation for being sexist. My question is what is going on with the other three? I’ve seen Padma go up against him on rare occasion. Most guest judges just see to keep their mouths shut. Chef Yu barely said a thing and gave a neutral comment if he didn’t like a dish.
Generally, the guest chef seem to have a line like,
“So it comes down to what is worse boring dish or overly salted? ” Or something similar and then one of those two goes home.
yes there is a difference. and I find Tom C esp moody and needy this season. I think he thinks he isn’t getting enough screen time and is jealous of Padma. I put all of this down to the loss of Fati at the beginning but now I think it has existed longer than that, I never watched last chance kitchen until this season and it shows his true character even more clearly…Tom C would appear smarter, less se**st and more appealing if he just stuck to cooking and shelved the smarmy attitude, the smarta** smirks and his ‘trying too hard to be noticed’ comments.
Seemed like Eric was letting Justin take some control or direction over his own dish. Then again, his competitors are not going to give him any useful feedback — Michelle gleefully thought his snails were chewy but didn’t mention it to him when he asked her to taste it. Adrienne is happy to have Brian work with her because he knows meat. Maybe knows it but he hasn’t been successful this season cooking it. Makes sense to me that the chefs are cooking with some of their home ingredients. Why not give the guests something they may never had eaten before rather than cooking them Chinese food that they can get anywhere any day. The judges did say that everyone cooked a great dish. But they sure found it easy to criticize the bottom three competitors’ dishes.
Holy Macau makes me love BRAVO! I’m so hoping they put these same kind of resources and budget into Project Runway.
I’m back on low carb and enjoying cauliflower hash browns with my pork steak. I was rooting for Sara and her grits, lol.
Nope, no argument here, I agree with you. I want someone with Top Chef talents. Didn’t someone refuse to come back via LCK b/c of the process? Don’t recall whom–Brother maybe? Good article in the NYP about Top Chef being se**st and it perhaps being time for them to ‘take their knives and go’.
Nope, no argument here, I agree with you. I want someone with Top Chef talents. Didn’t someone refuse to come back via LCK b/c of the process? Don’t recall whom–Brother maybe? Good article in the NYP about Top Chef being se**st and it perhaps being time for them to ‘take their knives and go’.
It’s not the first time I’ve seen a chef argue about a judges comment and am always amazed that they would. The umami word? For a long time I thought it was some ingredient. My fave is Michelle. Adrienne deserved to go home. They carried her when she was on the boat. And I still don’t forgive Eric for the rudeness about using boxed waffle mix. I don’t like a bully and I think that he is, same as arguing with Parma. Hope he doesn’t win
Correction Padma