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00:01Citizens to Flavortown!
00:03I've invited the best chefs to see who can cook any cuisine
00:06in our off-the-hook restaurants.
00:08From the food carts to the fine dining.
00:11New restaurant every day.
00:13You never know what you're getting yourself into.
00:15But Flavortownians, today is all about the most tempting sound of all, and that is...
00:21Crunch!
00:25As mayor, I'm decreeing that all chefs prepare dishes
00:28that pack a crunch so loud it can be heard in the next town over.
00:33I'm gonna crunchify this thing.
00:35We're going to Christatown now.
00:37I got crunchy, and I don't want to go home.
00:39This is Crunch Day in Flavortown!
00:51Alright, it's time to see if our new culinary recruits
00:54can defeat our returning Flavortown champ.
00:56Ladies and gentlemen, it's crunch time!
00:59And here they are now!
01:00Oh, my God!
01:01Chef Josh Schmidt!
01:02Flavortown, this is so cool!
01:03Walking into Flavortown is incredible.
01:05All these different concepts that you can work in.
01:07This is crazy!
01:08I feel like I'm in your brain.
01:09You should be very worried about that, Chef.
01:12Knowing that there's really no telling where you're gonna wind up cooking,
01:14it sounds challenging, but I'm the executive chef at Bourbon Steak in Las Vegas.
01:19It's a chef-driven Michael Mina Steakhouse.
01:21I'm also the director of R&D for Mina Group.
01:24And I know my way around every kind of kitchen.
01:27And Chef Saba Duffy.
01:29I cannot believe I'm in Flavortown right now.
01:32I have done everything you can possibly do in the food world at this point.
01:36Run a food truck, a catering business.
01:39I have won the title of Chopped Grand Champion.
01:43But Flavortown is massive.
01:46Oh, my God.
01:47It does make me nervous.
01:49Welcome. Welcome to Flavortown.
01:51Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
01:52We give first awards in Flavortown.
01:55And we're gonna give you the award of the first chef to ever show up with a backpack.
01:58That's awesome.
01:59That's awesome.
02:00So I don't know exactly what you put in there, but...
02:02It's a knife bag.
02:03I brought a lot of knives.
02:04All of the knives.
02:04Okay.
02:05Let me introduce you to the returning two-time champ, Chef Maria Maison.
02:11Two times!
02:12I am the chef and owner of Boca and Zona Tortillas in Tucson, my hometown that I love.
02:18My tank is full, and I am ready to cook up a storm in Flavortown.
02:23I'm liking your office. I think I'm moving in.
02:27Maria is a seasoned competitor. It's intimidating.
02:30This town is no joke.
02:32Every pantry is different, and I'm not gonna tell you more.
02:36Oh, my God. I need to get a leg up on her.
02:38This is the kind of battle we want to bring to the streets of Flavortown.
02:41Now, Chef Maria, to date, how much money have you won?
02:45$31,000.
02:47$31,000.
02:48That's a lot of tacos.
02:48Wow.
02:49So, there are two rounds in this food fight, and after each round, unfortunately, one chef's shift will be over.
02:56The last chef standing will have a chance to earn a paycheck up to $20,000 and get a chance
03:02to return to Flavortown to defend their champion title and hopefully win some more money.
03:08I've been here, I know this, and I want to take the third W. I want to win again.
03:13So, for today's competition, things are about to get loud, loud, loud.
03:19Because I have declared this crunch day in Flavortown.
03:24Amazing.
03:24Today, the judges will be eating with their ears first, so your dishes must pack that crunch.
03:29All right.
03:30Now, in Flavortown, these restaurants change all the time.
03:33So, you never know what you're going to get.
03:36Now, tonight, we have our sausage and hot dog cart, whose small kitchens are filled with the most bodacious brats,
03:43awesome andouille, and the most tempting toppings.
03:45Okay.
03:46I don't really cook with pork products a lot because I grew up in a very conservative Pakistani Muslim household,
03:53so we never ate pork.
03:56Hushpuffy Holler is a down-home southern dining spot where the chefs take pride in their fried comfort cooking.
04:02Even the quickest dishes taste slow cooked.
04:05I'm known for Mexican cuisine, Latino cuisine, not southern.
04:09Then there's one that's near and dear to my heart, knuckle sandwiches.
04:13Yeah, where the pantry is piled high with the delicious meats, cheeses, crunchy bread, and spreads to make sammies that
04:19just hit right.
04:20Fast casual is kind of my comfort zone.
04:23That's the kind of food that I love to cook.
04:26Chez Penny, named after my mom Penny, is our fine dining French restaurant where the accent is on fresh seasonal
04:33ingredients.
04:33If I can get to that fine dining restaurant, I know that's where I would find the ingredients that I
04:37would mesh with the best.
04:38Now, before each round, one chef is going to earn the right to decide what kitchen all chefs are going
04:44to cook in.
04:45We're going to let your taste buds pick the first location with a quick taste bud test.
04:52Chefs, whoever correctly identifies the flavors of five potato chips first will be the one that gets to pick the
04:59first restaurant you all cook in.
05:02Now, if by chance you get some wrong, it will come down to who got the most right.
05:07Okay.
05:08This is my first major competition and now I'm actually quite frightened.
05:12You know, just because I've done like higher end stuff than somebody doesn't mean that we're not going to wind
05:16up competing on a hot dog cart and I'm going to lose, you know?
05:19All right, you'll have 60 seconds.
05:22And that starts, as we would say in guys' grocery games, which is just five blocks down the road in
05:28case you need anything.
05:29It's going to start in three, two, one, go.
05:33I'm most excited to cook at the food carts because you know what to expect.
05:40You make me hungry and I hear great crunching.
05:42I'm thinking the southern style restaurant.
05:46Southern food comes naturally to me.
05:4815 seconds.
05:52Chef, you got that third one?
05:54It's just sweet.
05:55I can't tell.
05:56Chef Maria, you were first.
05:58Number one?
05:59Salt and vinegar.
06:00Got it.
06:01Chef?
06:01Salt and vinegar.
06:02Great.
06:03All right.
06:03Number two, barbecue, barbecue, barbecue.
06:06That is correct.
06:06Number three is honey Dijon.
06:08We have sweet, we have regular, and we have sour.
06:11Nobody gets it, but we're still tied.
06:13Number four is dill pickle.
06:15We got dill.
06:16We got dill.
06:16We got dill.
06:17That's a big dill.
06:18Oh, my God.
06:19And number five is salt and pepper.
06:22We have plain, we have salt and pepper, and we have pickle.
06:25So, Saba wins.
06:27Congratulations.
06:28There you go.
06:28Oh, my God.
06:29Congratulations.
06:30This is a huge advantage.
06:32Control is power.
06:33All right, Chef Saba.
06:34Yes.
06:35Let's take a look at the restaurant choices you have.
06:37We have our sausage and hot dog carts, Hush Puppy Holler, Shea Penny, our fine dining spot, or knuckle sandwiches.
06:46What entices you?
06:47Okay.
06:48And remember, it's crunch day.
06:49Where are you going to get the best crunch and punch?
06:51Ooh, that's a good one.
06:54The one that intimidates me the most is the Southern restaurant.
06:58I am not interested in the carts.
07:01I feel like with the Southern comfort, there's a lot of opportunity to bring crunch.
07:05Now, are you comfortable with Southern food?
07:07I've done some Southern cooking.
07:08Okay.
07:09Yeah, I can make a mean biscuit.
07:10What are you thinking?
07:12Oh, God.
07:15I think I'm going to go with Southern comfort.
07:21Labortown, this is Hush Puppy Holler, where we take down home cooking up a notch.
07:26And here comes our head waiter, the one and only, what's the guy's name again?
07:30Let's see what he has on today.
07:31He loves his outfits.
07:33Yes.
07:33Oh.
07:34Always changing outfits.
07:35You sure you don't work at the hot dog cart?
07:37On and off.
07:37Yeah, I'm part time.
07:38Fantastic.
07:39Chefs, welcome to the Hush Puppy Holler.
07:41Now, on today's menu, we will have a dish that will be consisting of meat and a side.
07:48Dude.
07:48All right.
07:48So, we know this from the old Southern staple of meat and two or meat and three.
07:52This, we're just giving you meat and one.
07:54There you go.
07:54I work in a steakhouse, so, you know, meat plus ones, what I do the best.
07:58Featuring the oh-so-lovely plant, okra.
08:02It's a Southern favorite, right?
08:04Who doesn't love okra?
08:05I don't love okra.
08:07Just not thinking crunch.
08:10And don't forget, today is crunch day, so your dish has to be crunchy.
08:14That could be a difficult thing.
08:16Okay, gotta have okra, meat and a side, and of course, it's gotta have crunch.
08:20The dishes will receive a ranking of stars.
08:23A five-star dish will earn you $5,000, as well as the right to pick the next restaurant in
08:28the competition.
08:28The four-star dish will get $4,000, and the three-star, well, your shift will be over.
08:34Got it.
08:3430 minutes on the clock.
08:36Chefs?
08:36The kitchen chores.
08:37Good luck.
08:38Good luck, guys.
08:39Where are all the stations?
08:41I'm going over here.
08:42Let's go.
08:42Where's the okra?
08:43Got it.
08:44It's difficult to navigate a kitchen you've never cooked in before.
08:48I'm gonna grab some shrimp.
08:49But I know that I'm going into the fryer to ensure that crunch factor.
08:54What I need is chickpea flour.
08:55I grew up with a Pakistani-style okra dish using chickpea flour, and it was, like, really big crunch factor.
09:04The pantry is 100% different from the trattoria last week.
09:10I want chicken thighs, but I saw chicken wings.
09:13And guess who comes to mind?
09:15My beautiful, gorgeous, handsome son.
09:17He loves wings.
09:18And I'm gonna make it spicy.
09:19I'm gonna make it Maria dish.
09:21I have chiles.
09:22This pork loin sounds nice.
09:24I am a protein, a meat connoisseur, but I think that this is gonna be a really tough competition.
09:28It's not a layup.
09:30I mean, okra, it needs to be cooked correctly, and it has to be crunchy.
09:34This is gonna be a tough one.
09:36How we looking, chef?
09:37Oh, pretty good.
09:38I'm gonna do some cornmeal-crusted shrimp.
09:41The shrimp is going to soak in some buttermilk, along with smoked paprika aioli, and everything needs crunch.
09:50Cornmeal is gonna ensure that crunch factor.
09:53I'm gonna crunchify this shrimp.
09:56But I hate okra, can I just say that?
09:59When my grandmother used to make okra, she would make a chickpea fritter.
10:02Still no on the chickpea flour, huh?
10:05No one's seen it.
10:06Not something I've found yet.
10:07Heard.
10:08But I'm in this southern pantry, so I just have to work with what I got.
10:14Oh, my God.
10:14Maybe choosing southern-style restaurant was the bad thing.
10:19First thing we're gonna do is get some onions and not cut ourselves.
10:23Chef Josh, talk to me.
10:25What are you thinking?
10:26I'm doing blackened pork chops okra with buttermilk fried onions, and then some grilled green beans as our side dish.
10:32Got it.
10:33Okay, I'm dredging these guys in a little buttermilk.
10:34I'm gonna make a nice seasoned dredge to feed my crunch.
10:37My first restaurant I ever worked in was southern-inspired Creole food.
10:41Quinn used to put a fry garnish on every single dish.
10:44We would have onion straws, like I'm doing here, to add that crunch at the end of the dish.
10:48I'm gonna put a little bit of this okra into the crispy garnish as well.
10:52It's gonna get a little slimy, but I actually love that.
10:55Steaks on this competition are crazy.
10:57We're gonna get the key to Flavortown.
10:59I'm moving in.
11:00I love your attitude, Chef.
11:02Not really.
11:05Well, those are marinating.
11:07Going for the pork loin, hopefully grilled.
11:10Hell yeah.
11:10I don't think crunch is the most important thing in a dish.
11:13We're bringing the emerald, some bam, to the stadium here.
11:15I think the amount of salt is number one.
11:17Blackening spice.
11:18Hell yeah.
11:19Ah, it feels good.
11:20This thing seems hot enough to blacken something.
11:22Hell yeah.
11:23Let's go.
11:23It takes a really high heat to bring that color to them and reduce the salinity of that blackening spice.
11:29Cool, cool, cool.
11:30It's crunch time.
11:32Yep.
11:33Champ, talk to me.
11:35I'm making a hot wing with a super hot glaze with fried okra, baby.
11:41I find similarities with Mexican cuisine and southern cuisine, but I'm nervous because southern cuisine is complicated.
11:49It takes precision, it takes time, and you only have 30 minutes.
11:54Atta boy.
11:55So, I use buttermilk and hot sauce to tenderize the chicken.
12:00You rest.
12:01Tranquila, mi niña, tranquila.
12:03Okay, calm down.
12:04My ochre have to be crunchy, but ochre, when you cook it, it's slimy.
12:08You can take off the sliminess by soaking them in vinegar.
12:13I hope I'm right.
12:15I'm going into the last fryer, okay, chefs?
12:17Thanks, chef.
12:18I'm looking for as much crunch as possible.
12:21I've been here two weeks, and I want to come back the third, the fourth, and the fifth.
12:26Last week, I was playing for Renee, my son.
12:29Now, told me, Mom, for once, do it for you.
12:32But my staff is everything.
12:34They deserve races, and I'm here competing for money so they can have those races.
12:39Oh, no.
12:41Ay, Dios mio.
12:42My ochre.
12:43They come out not good.
12:46They're not crunchy at all.
12:49It's a disaster.
12:51You stay there.
12:52That is 86.
12:53I was going to say, because that's...
12:54I know.
12:55This ochre is going to the trash.
12:56Chefs, we are at the halfway point.
12:59It hurts, because I'm running out of time, and I'm running out of faith in my dish.
13:06Oh, my God!
13:12Right behind you.
13:13Mm-hmm.
13:14It's Flavortown food fight.
13:16I've got three chefs, and they're battling it out.
13:17I'm waiting for my two judges to show up.
13:19But one judge in particular I know is probably double parked and probably...
13:22Oh!
13:23Oh!
13:24Where did they come now?
13:25Oh.
13:25I guess we let anybody into Flavortown.
13:27The one and only Tori Johnson and Chef Viet Pham.
13:30My brothers, how are you?
13:31Gentlemen, welcome to Flavortown.
13:33Look at this place.
13:34Is there any place for lease?
13:36Because this is where I want to live.
13:37Well, yes.
13:37I contributed to your campaign, and I demand a flat from my family above Jay Penny.
13:42Oh, by the way, today is the national day of crunch.
13:45It's got to have a sound.
13:45It has to be crunchy.
13:47So who's our reigning champ?
13:48Our reigning champ is Maria Maison.
13:50She is versatile as they come.
13:52All of a sudden, I forgot how to cook.
13:54Okra.
13:55I'm not afraid to say, hey, this does not work.
13:57You know what?
13:58Change my game.
13:59And restart the okra again.
14:01Okay.
14:01First time, I didn't drench them enough.
14:03So I'd season the okra.
14:05Do a tempura batter, if you will.
14:08Okay.
14:08Season the batter.
14:09Going in this fryer.
14:12Then I fry it.
14:13I hope this makes it have a good crispy crunch.
14:19Woo!
14:20I finally got it.
14:22Crunch.
14:23I love the outside crunch.
14:26I love the way they look.
14:27That is called umami, my friends.
14:30Trying to hurry.
14:31Ideas are flying.
14:32What are you making, Maria?
14:33I'm making my hot sauce for my chicken wings.
14:36Mantequilla.
14:37Let's give it a little heat.
14:39I browned the butter a little bit to give it that southern situation going on.
14:43Woo!
14:44That's spicy!
14:46My wings are drenched in cornstarch, flour, and baking powder.
14:51You know another day at the office.
14:53Ah!
14:54Gorgeous.
14:55I like Maria's.
14:56Wow.
14:57They look great.
14:57But I think Sava is really struggling.
15:00She's definitely flustered.
15:02I want chickpea flour, but I don't see it.
15:05And that was my plan.
15:07Normally I'd use chickpea flour for the okra, but we're in a southern restaurant.
15:12That's not available.
15:14I have to pivot.
15:14Gonna throw a little cornstarch in there.
15:17Cornstarch also offers crunchy exterior, and it stays crunchy.
15:22We're gonna fry up some okra right now.
15:24We got two fried okras going on in the kitchen.
15:27Which one's gonna be better?
15:28Okra versus okra.
15:29Yeah.
15:30And what is it soaked in?
15:31A little bit of buttermilk.
15:31Buttermilk, okay.
15:32Along with some cumin, some coriander.
15:33The old favorite Cajun classics of cumin and coriander.
15:37I gotta represent me.
15:39No, you gotta be you, be and you.
15:40I'm a small business owner, as is my husband, who's also helping me build my restaurant.
15:46And we've invested everything into our businesses.
15:50I really need that money.
15:53Excuse me.
15:54A lot of business going on in the fryer department right now.
15:56I just hope it's crunchy.
16:02The okra is great, and I think the judges are gonna appreciate it.
16:06But I want the crunch factor.
16:09Do I see fennel salad coming there, chef?
16:11Fennel, apple, jalapeno.
16:13Those all sound like crunchy items.
16:15What's the dressing inside of that?
16:16I'm just doing lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, and I'm gonna throw some cilantro in there.
16:21A little fennel slaw.
16:23And with these heavy fried items, the star of this dish, it's gonna be the salad.
16:30I'm just trying to build a life for my family that will make them comfortable and make them proud of
16:35who their mom is.
16:37Josh, what you making, man?
16:38I am blackening some pork chops.
16:40I feel like that feels super southern.
16:43Oh, this thing's gonna go all the way to blackens.
16:47You know, it's not my kitchen.
16:49The grill wasn't hot enough.
16:50I saw pretty quickly that there's no way that was gonna get any kind of blackening action on the pork
16:54chops.
16:55So I quickly grab a cast iron pan.
16:57Hell yeah, here we go.
16:58My old standby in an event like this.
17:00And you get sweaty fast in Flavortown.
17:02But I hope that I get that char that I was looking for.
17:04It's crunch day.
17:05And we're going to crispy town now.
17:07I'm gonna trim some green beans up.
17:09A little bit of Cajun spice.
17:11I think that we can add some crunch to these green beans with the grill.
17:14Man, grilled green beans are great.
17:15I also have an andouille sausage.
17:17Something with this guy.
17:19Dude, we're gonna put this in with the grilled green beans.
17:21You know, combining that sausage with the green beans makes it more southern.
17:25Looking great.
17:25I'm here to win for me and my family.
17:27And I want to open our first fish joint and then a restaurant group.
17:31I need to get another fryer now.
17:32Will you be able to make some room for me in the fryer in a minute, guys?
17:34Yeah.
17:35You have this fryer, hon.
17:36Thank you, chef.
17:37I'm thin to win, chef.
17:38I want to go loose in here so I don't constrict them.
17:41I have crispy green beans.
17:42And now the onion straws are another opportunity for crunch.
17:45I feel like that'll be really delicious.
17:47I need to just keep running for the finish line.
17:49You need to have plates of the pass through in five minutes.
17:51Five minutes, chef.
17:53Let's see how we're looking on pork chops.
17:57Pork chops are cooked perfectly.
18:00What do we have there, chef?
18:01Chicken wings.
18:02In that sauce?
18:03Yes.
18:04It's a play on the hot Nashville chicken.
18:07It might lose some crunch, but I know Nashville hot chicken is sauced.
18:13Chef, your three plates must be in the pass through window in 90 seconds.
18:17Heard.
18:18I'm ready to start plating two chicken wings with a side of tempura okra and homemade ranch.
18:25Guys, I am done.
18:29I put the fried okra on the plate, followed by the fried shrimp, and then a little pile of the
18:37slaw.
18:38Looking very good.
18:39It's plating time.
18:41First, beautiful green beans with andouille sausage.
18:44Put the pork chop on, and pickled jalapenos and pickled okra bring the acidity.
18:48And onion straws add that crunch on top of the dish.
18:51Come on. Come on.
18:52Five, four, three, two, and service is done.
18:58Thank you very much.
18:59Great job, chef.
19:00Thank you. That was rad.
19:01Chef Maria, at least there's some on the plate.
19:05I check all the boxes. I'm confident. I'm good.
19:07Those wings are great. They're in the hands of two very good judges.
19:13Hey champ. How are you?
19:14The Mexican has arrived.
19:16This looks like a dish where I won't even need this.
19:18I feel like there should be music with that.
19:20I have my own soundtrack.
19:21There we go.
19:22Okay.
19:23Okay.
19:24This chicken wing is inspired by Nashville hot chicken.
19:27All right.
19:27I'm very soulful, but of course, I'm Mexicana, and I did a serrano habanero cayenne honey sauce.
19:36My son loves wings, and I'm here for him.
19:39When I won the first week, I said, I did it for you.
19:42And he said, Mom, do it for yourself too. You deserve it.
19:45You can't make me cry before I eat.
19:47Well, the hot sauce is going to make you cry.
19:48The hot sauce is going to clear your soul if you had one.
19:52But you're a chef, so I don't know.
19:55The okra is fried, and the ranch buttermilk, a little bit of Kewpie mayo, salt, pepper, garlic.
20:03Okay.
20:04Crunch.
20:05Meat aside, she nailed it.
20:07Wow.
20:08Oh, the habanero comes through hot on that.
20:10These okras, these are delicious.
20:12That okra, crispy on the outside.
20:15Slimy?
20:15A tiny bit, but it's not slimy to the point where you didn't wrestle with it enough.
20:19It doesn't scare me.
20:20The sauce, it's like literally all gas, no breaks.
20:22It's delicious.
20:23I can bathe in it.
20:25But as much as I was hoping to like bite into this and like get crunch.
20:29Yeah.
20:30You lost crunch through that heavy sauce.
20:33But the flavor is delicious.
20:34That is delicious.
20:35Awesome chef, thank you so much.
20:36Thank you very much.
20:36Let's bring up the next chef.
20:38Saba, I believe you're second.
20:39Yeah.
20:39Alright.
20:39Okay.
20:40Take it away.
20:41I'm nervous.
20:42Of course I'm nervous.
20:44But I was happy with the dish that I made today.
20:47Alright.
20:47Hello.
20:48Saba.
20:48Hi, I'm great.
20:50How are you?
20:51Good.
20:51Great.
20:52I am Pakistani ethnically and we cook with a lot of heavy spices.
20:58And it does resonate with southern cooking.
21:00Okay.
21:00This dish that you see here, fried shrimp with a nice cornmeal crust.
21:04I put some warming spices in there.
21:07And I did grow up with okra.
21:09It's something my grandmother used to cook all the time.
21:11It's a smoked paprika aioli.
21:13And then a little fennel, apple, slaw.
21:17Wow.
21:18Mmm.
21:19Dude, Mediterranean southern.
21:20This is exactly what I would have pictured.
21:22I think that you cooked your shrimp perfectly.
21:25That has that crunch that you expect from cornmeal, right?
21:27Yeah.
21:28I'm blown away at the fact that you were able to add your Mediterranean feel to this dish.
21:34Your salad of fennel and herbs, it really brought freshness and it really balanced out the dish.
21:39That slaw is perfect.
21:42The okra though, there's a few pieces that I don't think you got totally cooked through.
21:47I mean, I was just pressed for time.
21:50Right.
21:51Job well done.
21:52Saba.
21:52Appreciate it.
21:55All right, chef.
21:56Last but not least.
21:57Go get them.
21:58Hearing what the judges are saying, I'm feeling really confident at this point.
22:01What's up, guys?
22:02Yeah.
22:02How's it going?
22:03I think that I'm going to have a home run on my hands.
22:05So we did a blackened pork chop.
22:06On top of that, we've got some buttermilk onion straws.
22:09Okay.
22:09I incorporated the okra in that as well.
22:11Added a ton of Cajun spices to that.
22:13The grilled green beans have got some andouille sausage.
22:16Enjoy.
22:16What did you do to those green beans?
22:19Just a little bit of spice, olive oil, grilled.
22:22What was the spice?
22:24Just a little bit of the Cajun spice.
22:28That's delicious.
22:29Nice, good.
22:30Okay, cool.
22:30That is so good.
22:31Green beans are awesome, man.
22:33You know, you're definitely getting some crunch all over the plate.
22:35Putting a bird's nest of those, you know, onion straws.
22:39Yeah.
22:40Fantastic.
22:41I mean, it's almost a riff on a steak free.
22:43I love how you added the okra to it and made it kind of blend in with the onion.
22:48It's really, really great.
22:49Thank you, dude.
22:49But to me, the crunch and the green bean is what makes it.
22:52There you go.
22:52I love those green beans more than anything.
22:54And I can tell how much time you spent in Mina's empire, man.
22:57You can tell why he's kept you there.
22:59The pork is over-seasoned.
23:03Really, really salty.
23:07Yeah.
23:08It killed.
23:08Yeah, I was confident with the salt.
23:09And then when I got the Cajun seasoning on there, I was trying to dust some of it off
23:12because I thought about it and I'm like, oh yeah, number one ingredient in it is salt.
23:15So.
23:15Yeah.
23:15Thank you, chef.
23:16Thank you, guys.
23:17Yeah.
23:17Awesome.
23:19All right, let's talk about this.
23:20All right.
23:21Chef Maria, how'd she do?
23:22It was really good, but she oversauced the wings and it took away all of the texture.
23:28All of the crunch.
23:29Chef Saba.
23:30Saba Slava.
23:31It's so good.
23:32How was the okra?
23:32It was undercooked.
23:34And Chef Josh?
23:35The green beans were phenomenal.
23:36But I tell you, salt.
23:38Too much salt.
23:40Well, judges, I need the five-star dish, the four-star dish, and unfortunately, who's
23:44getting the goodbye three-star dish?
23:46Yeah.
23:46On the bus home.
23:48This is definitely hard.
23:52Chefs, I gotta tell ya, all three of you made dishes that were full of flavor, no question,
23:57and crunch.
23:58But unfortunately, one of you with a three-star dish, well, your shift is over.
24:02But the five-star dish, well, you'll get to decide where you're going to cook next.
24:08The chef with the five-star dish in the first round of the Flavortown Food Fight will go
24:14to...
24:18Congratulations, Chef Saba.
24:21Oh, my gosh.
24:22Well done.
24:23Good job, Seth.
24:24Maria, you toss the sauce in the wings, taking away a bunch of your crunch.
24:28Mm-hmm.
24:29Josh, there was a lot of salt on that pork.
24:32The chef with the three-star dish that will be their final shift is...
24:41Chef Josh, if it had not been over-seasoned, it would have been literally a perfect dish.
24:49Live to cook another day.
24:50Yep.
24:51Chef Josh, thank you so much.
24:52Pleasure.
24:53Thanks, guys.
24:54I'm proud of what I did today.
24:55It is a little bit devastating to be at the end of my shift.
24:58There's no margin for error in Flavortown, but I'd love to have another chance to come back.
25:03I don't think Flavortown's seen the last of me.
25:05Holy sh...
25:06I'm here.
25:07I won two times in a row.
25:09I'm defending my title.
25:11Chef Saba, congratulations.
25:13And Chef Maria, congratulations on the four-star dish, $4,000 to your paycheck.
25:17Chef Saba, five stars will get you $5,000 on your paycheck.
25:22But remember, you got to win next round to collect the paycheck.
25:25So, Chef Saba, now you get to make the decision for this final round, where would you like to cook?
25:31We have the sausage and hot dog food cart, where it's always a brat summer and the dogs are always
25:37hot.
25:38Knuckle sandwiches, where all the sammies are lip-smacking good.
25:42And then, of course, we have Chez Penny, our fine dining French restaurant.
25:45All right.
25:46And remember, crunch is king here.
25:48Right.
25:49Ooh, okay.
25:50So, I'm still really not feeling the carts.
25:55Too challenging to bring the crunch factor into.
25:58Um, it's between these two.
26:00Mm, it's a tough one.
26:02But, uh, with fine dining, I'm not sure about making a crunchy, fine dining dish.
26:09Crunchy, crunchy, crunchy.
26:10Crunchy, crunchy.
26:11But I love a good sandwich.
26:14You get that perfect bite.
26:17Oh, that's just heaven to me.
26:19I think that the sandwich shop is gonna play into the crunch.
26:24So, knuckle sandwiches it is.
26:27I love the epic knuckle sandwich.
26:33Welcome, chefs, to knuckle sandwiches.
26:36Near and dear to my heart.
26:37Got a big knuckle sandwich tattoo right there.
26:40Today, we have on our menu a stacked sandwich.
26:43Ooh.
26:44I love sandwiches.
26:47Stacked.
26:48Layered.
26:49I got this.
26:50And remember, the theme of Flavortown today is crunchy.
26:54Crunchy.
26:54There's so much opportunity to bring crunch to a sandwich.
26:58I feel like this challenge was made for me.
27:00Now, if you want to make some extra money on that paycheck, we have three upsell opportunities for you.
27:06Okay.
27:06We've got peanut butter for a $2,000 bonus.
27:09Got it.
27:10Peanut butter can be tricky.
27:11It's fatty.
27:13It's nutty.
27:13It's very prominent flavor.
27:15Anchovy paste for a $3,000 bonus.
27:18Okay.
27:18Okay.
27:19Anchovy paste.
27:20Ooh, a super salty paste that could totally destroy the dish.
27:26And pineapple for a $5,000 bonus.
27:29Ooh.
27:30Total of $10,000 bonus could be making it to your paycheck.
27:34But remember, you got to win to collect the paycheck.
27:36Okay.
27:37Okay.
27:37Those three upsells, it's not gonna be easy.
27:40Chef Saba, using all the upsell ingredients, would give you a shot at $20,000.
27:46And Chef Maria, you would be walking with $19,000.
27:50It's time to get cooking.
27:5130 minutes on the clock.
27:52Good luck.
27:52Let's do it.
27:53Thank you, thank you.
27:54All right.
27:55I'm going for some Brussels.
27:58Hi, another day at the office, ladies and gentlemen.
28:01To make more money, I will hit those three upsells, no problem.
28:06But it's not enough.
28:07I'm grabbing everything.
28:08If you want to win, it has to be perfection.
28:12And you need a lot of things to make a perfect knuckle sandwich.
28:16That's the hard part.
28:17Do we have pomegranate?
28:19Every pantry is different.
28:21This is crazy.
28:22Let's see what I can do with this peanut butter.
28:24Plus, I have to incorporate the upsells and crunch.
28:27But big risk, big reward, right?
28:30Front row seat.
28:32Anchovy paste and peanut butter, both pretty salty.
28:35And pineapple inside of this sandwich.
28:38Of course, we're in the day of crunch, so things need to be crunchy.
28:41Saba's got a lot on the line here.
28:43She was a little bit flustered with the preparation on the first round, but she came through.
28:47Saba, what's the game plan?
28:48Oh, man.
28:49I'm just making it up as I go along here.
28:52I'm gonna do some crispy bacon.
28:55To execute a quick dish with crunch.
28:58Ding, ding, ding.
29:00Bacon.
29:01All right.
29:02As soon as I made that decision, a play on a BLT came into my head.
29:07Okay.
29:08I prefer cooking bacon in the oven.
29:10It's my favorite way to cook bacon, also.
29:12It is.
29:12For sure.
29:13How many upsells are you doing, Saba?
29:14I have a little goat cheese, Calabrian chili, and anchovy spread here.
29:20Anchovy works because it offers a lot of umami, some saltiness that's not necessarily fishy.
29:27The peanut butter is a tough one.
29:29Thinking about something with the peanut butter.
29:31Okay.
29:32Peanut butter and anchovies is weird, but this is the make or break moment.
29:36I really need the money for my restaurant.
29:39We are just starting out, so let's try peanut butter with that goat cheese, which is also kind of funky.
29:47A lot of money if you pull it off.
29:49Mm-hmm.
29:53There we go.
29:54Yep.
29:55This actually works.
29:57Nice and salty.
29:58High stakes.
29:59High rewards.
30:00I have some Brussels sprouts.
30:02Clean Mediterranean shaved Brussels sprouts.
30:06Playing the BLT role of the lettuce.
30:10You can get a lot of crunch from vegetables roasted in the oven.
30:13How are we doing?
30:14Oh, man.
30:16I check on my bacon, and crunchy is not happening in this oven right now.
30:21All right.
30:22Hot, hot, hot.
30:23Oh, my God.
30:25So, Saba, you had some bacon that was in the oven.
30:27You took it out.
30:28It's just taking too long.
30:29Today's theme is crunch, so the bacon has to be crunchy.
30:33Stuff has got to go wrong in this kitchen.
30:36It's just how you deal with it.
30:37The future of my restaurant comes down to this bacon.
30:41The thrill of it all.
30:47I don't have a lot of time right now, but these burners are powerful.
30:52Crunchy bacon?
30:53Yeah.
30:54Are you feeling confident?
30:55Um, no.
30:59Maria, so we're going to get a stacked Sammy here?
31:01Yes, sir.
31:02It's cooking good looking.
31:03All right.
31:04What do we got?
31:04Mine is an open-faced ribeye.
31:06Sammy.
31:07Chef Maria is a two-time champ.
31:09Will she be the three-time champ?
31:11Mm-hmm.
31:11She's got a lot riding on this one.
31:13Not just the chance to win more money, but to continue to be the reigning title champ.
31:17I'm thinking on the sauce.
31:19Once again, Maria and her sauces.
31:23Nothing scares me at this point.
31:24I know I have an army of people cheering for me, besides my son, my mom, my dad, my siblings,
31:31my girlfriend, Carolina.
31:33This one is for her, too.
31:35I know I got this.
31:36Peanut butter, pineapple, and jalapenos.
31:40For my sauce.
31:41So she has anchovies?
31:43I don't know if the anchovy made it.
31:45Assuming she's making a sauce, anchovies would have added that umami.
31:49Oh, there's the anchovies.
31:50There's the anchovies.
31:51Right there.
31:51That's the holy trinity.
31:53I mean, the best thing to do when you've got three upsells that may not play well together
31:57is put them in a sauce.
31:58I know the game now.
32:00And to win, you have to use the upsells as much as you can, not just one time.
32:07All right, so Maria, she has a ribeye steak.
32:10She just added the steak into that blend of pineapple, anchovy, peanut butter.
32:15So this sauce has everything that Hunter asked for.
32:19Wow.
32:20That is interesting.
32:21That is very interesting.
32:23Anchovy, pineapple, and peanut butter.
32:25All right, come on.
32:26That's got, like, some Thai kind of, like, flavors going on.
32:30That's right.
32:31Great.
32:32I swear to God, this is mine.
32:36I'm gonna go in the oven.
32:38I'm gonna get some pineapple in there.
32:40I've done grilled pineapple on turkey burgers before, and it was phenomenal.
32:47I'm gonna try to grill it, actually.
32:51But you don't want to spend too much time on the grill, otherwise it'll lose some of that crunch.
32:56This could help you get through the first month of your big dream opening up a restaurant.
33:00Oh, that would be amazing.
33:03I'm looking for as much crunch as I can pack into my sandwich.
33:08So I grabbed shibata, which is crunchy bread.
33:13Okay, crunchy fried onion situation.
33:16Oh, yeah.
33:17It's coming.
33:17I want to keep going.
33:19And I don't want to go home.
33:21How much char do you want to get on those breads there, Maria?
33:24Oh, .
33:25Ay, Dios mio santo.
33:27Ooh.
33:27Totally spaced.
33:30Yeah, well, then there's your answer.
33:31Maria doesn't even need to answer me.
33:33She takes the tongs and gets rid of that bread, and she starts over again.
33:35This time, I will go with the country white loaf of bread, cut it, mayo both sides, grill it.
33:43Calmate, boy.
33:44So now, what else can I do with upsells?
33:48Look what I'm doing.
33:50I am frying peanut butter and pineapple.
33:53What did you deep fry there, Maria?
33:55Clusters of pineapple and peanut butter.
33:57Pineapple and peanut butter clusters deep fried.
34:00That sounds like something Elvis would eat.
34:02Is that something that you've done before?
34:03No.
34:06Fire.
34:07So, Maria, if you win now, this is three battles in a row,
34:10we're setting up a legacy for you.
34:12Yep.
34:12That's the plan.
34:14Looks good.
34:15The last thing I need to do is the bread.
34:19Ciabatta offers a really nice crunch.
34:21That thick bread almost looks like it's stuffed.
34:24There's definitely a lot of risk here.
34:26I know these flavors should work, but I have no idea what this tastes like.
34:32Two minutes.
34:34Two minutes, heard.
34:35Now it's time to assemble.
34:36I spread the goat cheese mixture on my ciabatta bread.
34:41Pineapple on the bottom.
34:43Crispy bacon.
34:44Crunchy brussel sprouts.
34:46And then toasted peanuts on top.
34:48I mean, this is just gonna be...
34:51Yeah.
34:52I start building my open-faced sandwich.
34:55I add my toasted bread and my sauce on the side.
35:00Stack fried onions and pineapple, peanut butter clusters.
35:03Stack on stack.
35:04I've been accused of having a big mouth, but I don't know if mine's that big.
35:08Well, sweetheart.
35:10I put my ribeye on the top and my jalapenos.
35:14Salt.
35:15We're going five, four, three, two, one.
35:19Done.
35:19Woo!
35:20Sandwich shop is closed.
35:22Time for service.
35:23Okay.
35:23I feel nauseous.
35:24Stomach is in nods.
35:26I will meet you outside next to Shea Penny for a little chit chat.
35:29Okay, sir.
35:29I know that I have what it takes.
35:32They're gonna forget all about Chef Saba.
35:39Chef Saba, we're gonna let you go first.
35:41Okay.
35:42It just comes down to this moment.
35:44Maria is on a roll.
35:46She is so confident and I'm nervous.
35:49I'm nervous because this is the make or break moment.
35:52Hello.
35:53Oh, hey Saba.
35:54All right.
35:55Are you guys ready for this?
35:56I've been ogling this.
35:57Yes.
35:58So this is kind of a fun play on a BLT.
36:03Instead of tomato, we have grilled pineapple.
36:06We, of course, have the bacon.
36:07I got the crispy Brussels sprouts in there to replace the lettuce.
36:12Okay.
36:12I can smell those Brussels.
36:13Yeah.
36:13And then I have a goat cheese spread, which has some heat.
36:17It has the anchovies and it has the peanut butter.
36:25Mmm.
36:27Wow.
36:27There's a lot going on here.
36:31So I didn't think that that whipped goat cheese was going to work with the anchovy paste and the peanut
36:35butter.
36:35To me, it's delicious.
36:36It's fine.
36:36I can tell the Mediterranean.
36:38Do a lot of whipped feta.
36:39Right, right.
36:40Yeah.
36:40So that works.
36:41I need more of it though.
36:42Mmm.
36:43Then it would have been perfect because every single piece works on it.
36:46So you got those nice little crispy edges of the bacon.
36:48Yeah.
36:49The Brussels sprouts, weird, weird.
36:51And I like it.
36:52I think that you're onto something really great.
36:55The flavors are all here, but the sandwich needs a little bit more self-restraint, a little
37:01bit more polish and like the bread overpowers everything.
37:05And it's so thick that you have to work through the bread and then it comes together.
37:09Yeah.
37:10Thank you so much.
37:11I was just trying to bring the crunch factor.
37:13Yeah.
37:13You got the crunch factor.
37:14You got the crunch factor?
37:15Okay.
37:15At least I got the crunch.
37:16Absolutely.
37:18Maria.
37:19Take it to him, chef.
37:21I feel good going in to judge him.
37:24Saba's sandwich.
37:25I was like, in my humble opinion, not stack enough, but it's anybody's game.
37:30How you doing champ?
37:31Yeah.
37:32I'm good.
37:32Feisty mamacita.
37:34You know what?
37:34Let's talk and discuss that.
37:37Discuss that exact point right now.
37:39So honestly, it's a blessing in the sky that my chivara got burnt because it's too
37:44big and that's no bueno.
37:45Right.
37:45I wanted to give you something that you can play with.
37:47Okay.
37:47It's ribeye.
37:48It's marinated.
37:49The sauce contains anchovy paste, pineapple, peanut butter, and jalapeño.
37:55Wow.
37:55You went big.
37:56You went all three.
37:57Yeah.
37:58I love it.
38:04I love it.
38:04Definitely had that crunch factor.
38:06Ribeye.
38:07Open-faced sandwich.
38:08Fantastic choice.
38:09And the amount of pineapples in there were great.
38:11Okay.
38:11And then when you cut into it, it's soft and it's crunchy.
38:13The steak is beautifully cooked.
38:16However, it is lacking seasoning.
38:18Okay.
38:20Peanut butter.
38:20I love this sauce.
38:22Except for because you did that and then you also did the peanut butter and the pineapple
38:25in the tufts.
38:26That was the dominant flavor.
38:28Okay.
38:29It was featuring peanut butter.
38:30Yeah.
38:31That's what it said on the entrance.
38:32But you definitely did hit the crunch bar.
38:34Thank you, sir.
38:36Thank you so much, Maria.
38:38Yeah, this is a toss up for me.
38:39This is a hard one.
38:40How'd that go?
38:41Sauce was boss.
38:43Sauce is boss.
38:44You are the sauce queen.
38:45I'm very confident.
38:46The flavors are there.
38:47The inspiration is there.
38:49What do we think of Saba's?
38:51The one downturn of her dish is the fact that there's so much bread.
38:58That the rest of the story got lost.
39:00All filler, no killer.
39:01I'm so mad about my bread, but I was like, crunchy, crunchy.
39:05And Chef Maria?
39:06Chef Maria made a peanut butter sandwich.
39:08Yeah, that was a tough one.
39:09So that marinade that she made that we had a chance to taste, eventually was all consumed
39:16by the volume of the peanut butter.
39:17I mean, when they tell you a thing, it's featuring peanut butter.
39:21You give them peanut butter.
39:23Who's got the five-star dish?
39:25I'm leaving it up to you.
39:29Residents of Flavortown, judges, two chefs stand in front of us that made some crunchy
39:34sandwiches.
39:35Job well done.
39:37Very tasty.
39:38Very crunchy.
39:40Unfortunately, at this time of night, we have to announce that one chef's shift will be over.
39:46Chef Saba, if you win, you receive $5,000 in the first round.
39:51You would receive $5,000 in the second round and also $10,000 for using all of your upsell
39:56ingredients.
39:57You have a chance of being the first chef to win $20,000 in Flavortown.
40:03Ooh, I like that.
40:05Chef Maria, you were $4,000 in the first round.
40:08If you win, you would receive $5,000 in the second round, $10,000 for all of the upsell
40:13ingredients.
40:14So that would leave you $19,000 for today.
40:18Plus, we watched you make $31,000 throughout the competition, which would bring you to a
40:23total of $50,000.
40:29The chef who prepared the five-star dish is...
40:38Congratulations, Chef Saba.
40:40Well done.
40:42Well done, Chef.
40:43Congratulations.
40:45Oh, my God.
40:47I cannot believe I just won.
40:49It was a BLT.
40:51Like, who knew?
40:53Chef Maria, you leave Flavortown with $31,000, the first two-time winner we have seen.
41:01And not only that, you were the first chef to cook in all four locations.
41:05You are quite the record holder here in Flavortown and a formidable opponent.
41:09You have brought Flavortown to a new level.
41:12We're sorry to see you go, but Chef, it's not the last we'll see it here.
41:16Congratulations.
41:17Congrats.
41:18I won two times in a row.
41:20I get to go home with some moolah for my family, for my staff.
41:25What I gained in Flavortown?
41:27Priceless.
41:28Freaking priceless.
41:29Chef Saba, it was great to watch you cook.
41:32You have a very effervescent personality.
41:34It showed in the food that you made.
41:35On top of that, you're the first chef in Flavortown history to win $20,000.
41:43Congratulations.
41:46It's awesome.
41:47And on top of it all, you get to return next time as our reigning Triple F champ.
41:53Oh, I got it.
41:54Let me ask you this, Chef.
41:55What are you going to do with the money?
41:56Invest it into my restaurant.
41:59Thank you so much.
42:00There you have it.
42:01Let's hear from today's Flavortown Food Fight Champion.
42:05Woo!
42:06Woo!
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