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Americas Culinary Cup - Season 1 - Episode 07: The Gastronomic Gauntlet
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00:05Oh, no, another steak dish?
00:09We have a lot to eat.
00:11Oh, my God.
00:12I did not think we would be eating 40 dishes, yeah.
00:15Oof, I'm sorry.
00:17Oh, I can't.
00:18I can't walk.
00:19I'm so full.
00:21I couldn't eat another bite.
00:22You know how many dishes we've eaten?
00:23I know you guys are still standing.
00:25Spare a thought for us, okay?
00:26Oh, my God.
00:31I'm Padma Lakshmi, and we've scoured the nation to bring together the most elite chefs
00:37and the most renowned judges into the ultimate culinary battleground.
00:42This is a test of our 10 culinary commandments.
00:46Master them, and you win $1 million.
00:49Brought to you by our official cleanup partners, Don Powerwash.
00:57Previously on America's Culinary Cup, the chefs have been tested on five of the 10 culinary commandments.
01:04Meat.
01:05Sustainability.
01:06Sauce.
01:07Vegetables.
01:08Desserts.
01:09Some have thrived.
01:11Congratulations, Matt.
01:12You are the winner.
01:13You killed it.
01:14The chef voted most likely to win.
01:18Beverly.
01:19Oh, my God.
01:21While others have stumbled.
01:23Who was voted least likely to win?
01:26Chris Morgan.
01:28Doesn't feel good.
01:29Keith, you survived another commandment.
01:32I'm really beating myself up right now.
01:34I'm disappointed that I escaped by, but I live to fight another day.
01:43Good luck, everybody.
01:45Good luck, everyone.
01:46Good luck.
01:48Okay.
01:49It's very empty in here today.
01:51The worst moment is leading up to finding out whatever the commandment is.
01:55Things are back to normal.
01:57But I feel like I have something to prove.
01:59If everybody here thinks I'm going to go home, it's on the wind.
02:04Uh-oh.
02:05Wait a second.
02:05Oh, here it is.
02:10Culinary foam was a byproduct of inflating tomatoes with a bicycle pump.
02:14Okay.
02:15Oh, we've got extra backpack machines, extra dehydrators, double-doers of liquid nitrogen.
02:20This is the molecular challenge.
02:21This is feeling molecular, yeah.
02:23I'm familiar with a lot of molecular gastronomy techniques.
02:26You've done molecular?
02:27She worked at El Bouye for a bit.
02:30El Bouye was a combination, this merging of food and science that blew my mind.
02:36This could play very well into my strengths, especially since my previous career is in science.
02:42But it seems like every time someone says that they have experience with something, they end up on the bottom.
02:56Okay.
02:58Okay.
02:58Good morning.
02:59Hello.
02:59Hey, guys.
03:00Hello.
03:00Good morning.
03:01Hello.
03:02Good morning.
03:03Good morning.
03:03The seven of you are one step closer to taking home America's Culinary Cup and $1 million.
03:11Let's get right to it, shall we?
03:13Here we go.
03:14Today's culinary commandment is culinary science and technology.
03:21Oh, I made it through desserts, but I'm going home today.
03:25I don't have any experience with molecular gastronomy, but I understand why it's a commandment.
03:31Food is ever-changing.
03:32It's a science.
03:33Cooking is a science.
03:34It allows you to push the envelope.
03:35For this commandment, we've invited a special guest judge, one of the pioneers of molecular gastronomy, a true mad scientist
03:45and genius.
03:47Please welcome.
03:54I'm just kidding, of course, because there's no guest judge better than the one we have right here, who's in
04:02his own house.
04:03Yes, Wiley Dufresne.
04:06Wiley's the leading pioneer of molecular gastronomy.
04:10I watched his videos.
04:11I watched him cook in WD-50.
04:13He is someone that was in the forefront of paving a way.
04:17Wiley understands the formulas to make everything perfect and right.
04:22I did the weird so you don't have to.
04:23For the culinary science and technology commandment, we want to see how well you can showcase these 10 advanced techniques.
04:42In this commandment, your strategy is just as important as your food because today's a no-holds-barred, non-stop
04:50cook-off.
04:51You'll have five hours on the clock to create as many dishes as you'd like that feature at least one
05:00of these techniques.
05:01The more techniques you pack into a single dish, the bigger the potential score.
05:08At the end of five hours, the chef with the highest total score will win and get a big advantage
05:15in the next culinary commandment.
05:18Oh my God, I really need to get that advantage.
05:23Being voted most likely to win, now the pressure's on.
05:26It's easier to be the underdog.
05:28Having an advantage moves me closer to getting that million dollars.
05:32And the chef with the lowest score will be going home.
05:38Is your head exploding, Buddha?
05:40I don't know where I'm going to end up, but I'm...
05:43But this is like awesome.
05:45The game is divided into two halves.
05:49Each half is two and a half hours long.
05:53Chefs, when you're finished with a dish, ring the bell at your station, and we will do our best to
05:59get to your station right away to taste your dish.
06:01Oh my gosh, this is crazy.
06:03It's one thing to cook one dish.
06:05It's very difficult to try to manage cooking a lot of dishes at the same time with different techniques in
06:13them.
06:14Wiley, would you do the honors, please?
06:17I thought you'd never ask.
06:18Your time starts now.
06:22Good luck.
06:28For this commandment, the chefs have five hours to score as many points as they can, with no limit on
06:35the number of dishes they make.
06:36Each dish must feature at least one of these ten culinary science and technology techniques.
06:42Dehydration, spirification, foams, flash freezing, carbonation, gels, smoke infusion, powderizing, sous vide, and compression.
06:55Each technique a chef uses ups the dish's potential score.
06:58A dish with one technique is worth a possible ten points per judge.
07:02And a dish using five techniques is worth a possible 50 points per judge.
07:07And so on.
07:08Now let's get back to the action.
07:11How long before someone rings the first bell?
07:13I think it's going to be quick, and I think it's going to be Buddha.
07:15Yeah, and if we've learned anything so far on America's Culinary Cup, never count Beverly out.
07:21She is in the running.
07:22Literally.
07:25Katie, you're into all this science stuff, right?
07:27You feel good about this?
07:28I think so.
07:30Very intimidating challenge.
07:31I want to stay away from crashing and burning.
07:33I see this commandment as a scoring battle.
07:36Get as many plates up as you can, and try to score as many points as possible with each plate.
07:41That's my strategy.
07:42So I just start smoking everything.
07:46Duck breast, burrata, getting my carrots going.
07:49Bagging and pickling things, sous vide-ing things, making powders out of multiple fats.
07:55Starting with foam, which is going to be a meringue, instead of like rapid fire, unintentional dishes.
08:01I'm focusing on quality.
08:02I'm going to make a lemon and blackberry pavlova.
08:05I'm going to use pavlova for foam, which is the meringue.
08:09Takes about two hours to bake the meringue, so I wanted to get that on quickly.
08:14Doing spherification, I'm going to make a coconut and passion fruit gelato.
08:18The coconut and passion fruit, I'm adding them into the liquid nitrogen, and it'll flash-freeze it and turn them
08:24into spheres.
08:26Buddha seems comfortable with spherification.
08:29I think this is in his wheelhouse.
08:31It's tricky.
08:32Traditional spherification is typically where you take a liquid and you encapsulate it in a membrane.
08:36Typically, it's alginate, but it could be pectin, it could be gel and gum, and there's a chemical reaction.
08:41So that sphere will become solid.
08:46All right, Buddha, what have you got?
08:48Something to get your taste buds going.
08:50They use spherification and flash-freezing.
08:52Two techniques.
08:53Yes.
08:54So the dish is worth a maximum of 20 points per judge.
08:57The spherification technique that I'm doing is not your typical spherification.
09:00You will still get those spheres, but you won't get, you know, that sodium alginate feel.
09:04Right on.
09:05I think that's smart.
09:06I thought you did a great job with these two techniques.
09:09I really got the beautiful brightness and tartness of the pineapple with the creaminess from the coconut milk.
09:16It's delicious, it's refreshing, it's cold.
09:18It hit all the notes.
09:19I thought it was delicious, but as a cocktail, you can give me more rum next time, Buddha.
09:22Yeah.
09:24Shooting for magic.
09:26I'm making an olive oil powder.
09:28You just add maltodextrin with olive oil.
09:30You spit it in the Robocool and season it.
09:33It's a very easy way to make olive oil snow.
09:35First scores are in, everybody.
09:42Oh my gosh.
09:43Buddha has 54 points already racked up.
09:46What am I talking about?
09:47Buddha.
09:49He's so good.
09:50Buddha hits the board first.
09:52I really need to kick it into high gear.
09:54Oh, this is brutal.
09:55With a million dollars on the line, your heart's beating out of your chest.
09:59Hi, Chris.
10:00Hi.
10:01What have you made?
10:02Roasted eggplant with smoked burrata, compressed tomatoes in vinegar.
10:07Then I made an olive oil powder with maltodextrin.
10:10How many techniques have you used?
10:12Smoke, powder, compression.
10:15So three.
10:15Your eggplant is cooked beautifully.
10:18I don't think I'd be able to return home if I couldn't cook eggplant properly.
10:22Yeah.
10:22As an on-the-record non-lover of tomatoes, these are delicious.
10:26Oh, thank you.
10:26The compression really improved the texture and intensified the flavor.
10:30But maltodextrin, you have to use a super flavorful fat.
10:34I'm not picking a more brighter, sharper, peppery or oil.
10:38Something that's punchy.
10:39Okay.
10:40One hour left before halftime.
10:43Hustle, hustle.
10:48Whoa, Chris.
10:49Wow.
10:50Chris is in the lead now at 77 points.
10:54How many techniques do you do?
10:55Three.
10:57I don't know that many techniques, but the ones I do, use multiple ways.
11:02I want to get on the board.
11:03I'm already intimidated by the challenge, so I need to take some shots.
11:08Camacho's easy.
11:09It's a way to get some points quick on the board.
11:12Like, stay in the fight.
11:13Keith's plating.
11:14Yeah.
11:15But Katie's plating.
11:17Oh, there's Katie.
11:20Keith just rang the bell.
11:22What did you make for us?
11:23We have crab brandata.
11:25The foam is the brandata with molasses powder and compressed lemon.
11:32That compressed lemon was great.
11:34And I also love the idea of the molasses powder.
11:37The hardest thing about this challenge is that I have to get dishes up so fast that I don't
11:44have time to think.
11:45Hello.
11:46What'd you make for us?
11:47So right here you have a hamachi that's been coated with curry powder, and then you have
11:53compressed pickled peppers, burnt leaf charcoal, and coconut lime ginger foam.
11:58Foam that has fallen.
12:00That has fallen, yeah.
12:00Did you mean for it to fall?
12:02No, it's just been sitting.
12:03Okay.
12:03Your foam didn't have quite that lift, but as a sauce, which is not what it's meant to
12:09be, it's delicious.
12:11Great job, Keith.
12:12Thank you, Keith.
12:13You scores your end.
12:17Oh.
12:17Oh, Katie is tied with you, Chris.
12:19Oh, boy, Katie.
12:20This is absolute warfare, and it's pure chaos.
12:23Man.
12:27Keith.
12:29Whoa.
12:29Keith crushing it.
12:31All right, let's do it.
12:32Stay focused.
12:32I'm at the top.
12:34I'm leading it with no molecular gastronomy experience.
12:39Where you at, Buddha?
12:40Buddha, where you at?
12:44Ooh.
12:45You got a smoked onion carbonara.
12:47On the bottom, we have a sous vide duck egg yolk and smoked hickory wood parmesan on top.
12:53Did you peel the onions out?
12:55Yeah.
12:57But it's very unpleasant.
12:58You can't really chew it, and I certainly don't want to swallow it.
13:01Explain to me what you did to the egg yolk.
13:04So I cooked them inside a bag.
13:05And so they got, like, a nice jammy-style texture.
13:09Was this jammy to you?
13:12In this commandment, every point counts.
13:14If you fall behind, you could be going home.
13:17This is just the worst dish I've had ever from Buddha.
13:20Yeah, it's not great at all.
13:21Uh-oh.
13:24Hey, chefs, you only have 30 minutes before halftime.
13:28We still haven't seen a dish from Kara, Beverly, or Matt.
13:35Slow and steady wins the race.
13:36Hell no.
13:37Oh, it's slow and down.
13:37I'm feeling very nervous, but I haven't gotten any points on.
13:41But I'm setting myself up for the second half.
13:44My strategy is to build and then execute.
13:46I hope this works and I don't mess it up.
13:56Beverly, Kara, and Matt, you are still at zero.
14:00They're clearly using a different strategy than the others.
14:03I would be doing everything I could to get at least one dish done right now.
14:08I don't know why you would wait.
14:09Trying to create, like, a smoke situation for my fish.
14:12I don't have any points on the board yet.
14:14And that's because I'm going for quality over quantity.
14:18Oh, my God.
14:19This is a lot.
14:21I've been winning based on following my good.
14:24So don't change.
14:25It's working.
14:27Beverly, you got this.
14:29I'm in second place, tied with Katie.
14:32And my goal is to move as fast as humanly possible.
14:36I'm just going for points and hopeful that they don't hate it.
14:39Smoked valumi cheese, pan seared, and then sous vide, the carrots, and their own juices
14:43with a lot of different herbs.
14:45Finished with a carrot ash.
14:46How many techniques?
14:47Smoke, sous vide, ash.
14:50So dehydration, three.
14:51I got to tell you, Chris, I love this dish.
14:54It was spicy and smoky and really savory with that halloumi.
15:00Nice job, Chef.
15:01Thank you, Chef.
15:03All right, let's do it.
15:04Stay focused.
15:06Compression.
15:06Check.
15:07Gentrification.
15:08Check.
15:09Foam.
15:10Check.
15:11This is the game, and I'm killing it.
15:14I made watermelon tomato salad.
15:17Compressed watermelon with a pineapple foam and a honey fluid gel.
15:22Well, this foam made it.
15:29Wally, eat your salad.
15:31Stop pushing away your greens, Wally.
15:33He's pushing away the tomatoes.
15:36I love your compressed watermelon.
15:38Really concentrated with flavor, and your foam was beautiful.
15:42A little lecithin.
15:43Yeah.
15:44It tamped down the pineapple a little bit.
15:45Yeah.
15:46Okay.
15:46Well done.
15:4815 minutes left.
15:50I'm feeling nervous.
15:52Every time I look over at Chris, he's plating another dish.
15:54I need to keep racking up points.
15:57Let's just check your shrimp.
16:00Those are perfect.
16:02New scores, you're in.
16:09Wow.
16:10Keith at 169 points.
16:14Oh, man.
16:15I can't believe it.
16:16Like, literally.
16:18Like, what am I doing here?
16:20I don't do molecular gastronomy, but I'm lit.
16:23Man, I feel like they can't mess with me right now.
16:26That's wild.
16:26Keith is almost at 200 points.
16:29Calm down, Keith.
16:30I'll come back.
16:31If I'm good at anything, it's working fast.
16:34It's fun that me and Keith are battling it out for the top two.
16:38All right.
16:38But we'll see if he stays up there.
16:42Less than 10 minutes to go in the first half.
16:45What is Beverly doing?
16:47What is Beverly doing?
16:47I'm really worried.
16:48You got to show us something if you want to score.
16:51That's it.
16:52That's all it takes.
16:54Get it, Katie.
16:55This is a version of shrimp cocktail.
16:58I made a mousse out of alioli.
17:01So that's a foam?
17:02Uh-huh.
17:02And then I powdered the shrimp shells, dehydrated them in the oven, and then blended them into
17:09a powder.
17:09You continue to show a deft hand with seafood.
17:13My only qualm is with that shrimp powder.
17:16I have to agree.
17:17I was getting shards of shrimp peel.
17:20Yeah.
17:21And it felt like scales in my mouth.
17:23I love this idea.
17:24I think perhaps grab some liquid nitrogen and use that as a flash freezing.
17:28You could have got super fine shrimp flavor.
17:31Yeah.
17:34What?
17:34Chris got another dish up?
17:36All right.
17:37Number three.
17:37This is more than we've had from anyone else.
17:40It's not a hustle.
17:41This one's simple.
17:42Sous vide for the butternut squash, and then smoke on the tahini.
17:47The sous vide technique, you use it to great effect.
17:50It's still a bit firm.
17:52The sweetness from the squash comes through, but it's like, it's meaty at the same time.
17:56You're a new man, Chris.
17:58You gave us like three concise...
18:01Focus.
18:01Focused, delicious dishes.
18:03Well done.
18:04You should always cook like this.
18:0790 seconds left in the first half.
18:14I got to get something out quick.
18:16I had a bigger dish in mind, but I was like, screw it.
18:19I need to get something out now.
18:21Oh.
18:23It sounded like Matt.
18:24You made it.
18:25Got to get something in there, right?
18:26Yes.
18:28This is tempura fried anchovy Caesar salad.
18:31Dehydration of the kale.
18:33Jellification of the tahini Caesar dressing.
18:36The foam of the tempura with the anchovy.
18:39And the compression of the tomatoes.
18:42This is a really fun riff on Caesar.
18:44Well done, Matt.
18:45Appreciate it.
18:48Time's up, everybody.
18:50Hands up.
18:51All right, chefs.
18:52Oh, man.
18:53That's the first half of the game.
18:55Let's see where we are at halftime.
19:04Oh.
19:05Chris, you are in the lead, my man, with 207 points.
19:10I feel good.
19:11I mean, it gives me a little bit of breathing room going into halftime.
19:15So I'm not changing my strategy.
19:16My strategy is very much working.
19:18I think other people are going to see what I was doing and start taking notes.
19:22Keith, you're down to second place.
19:25Katie up to third place.
19:27Matt, you're in fourth.
19:29And Buddha, I'm sorry you went down to fifth place.
19:32Overall, we had 10 dishes and 29 techniques.
19:36We have yet to see some dishes from Beverly or Kara.
19:41I'm stressed because I'm at zero, but I have a good plan.
19:44I'm just trying to stay the course.
19:49I don't have any points.
19:51I know that's not looking great for me, but I do have a plan.
19:54And I know I'm going to get points for the dishes that I put up.
19:57It's still anyone's game.
19:59There's a whole second half.
20:01I want to remind you, at the end of the game,
20:04the winner is going to get a major advantage in the next commandment.
20:08The loser will be going home.
20:10So use this halftime wisely.
20:13Think about your strategy.
20:14I'll see you in 15.
20:15Come on, boys.
20:17Oh, God.
20:19I am formulating a plan.
20:21The second half is going to make or break.
20:24If I want to keep up with Chris and Keith,
20:27I need to start batching techniques
20:30and getting as many out as quickly as possible.
20:33Chris is killing us with more dishes, less technique.
20:36Yeah.
20:37He put up three dishes, boom, boom, boom,
20:39and they add up.
20:40How is your strategy, Buddha?
20:42Oh, my strategy is sup.
20:45Next half is going to be interesting.
20:47Yeah.
20:48I'm going to try and do a lot of dishes.
20:50I'm going to ring the bell like .
20:52You got your cape on now, huh?
20:54Game on.
21:07Chefs, I'd like you to all take your stations, please.
21:10My worry is that in the second half,
21:12the people that haven't put up a lot of points
21:14are building a massive amount of components.
21:16I've got to come in doing exactly what I did in the first half
21:19and just start slinging pans.
21:21Two hours and 30 minutes are on the clock.
21:25Every chance I get, I'm just closing my eyes,
21:28praying and talking to my mom,
21:29help me get this one, because this is for a million dollars.
21:32I'm doing it for her.
21:33Chefs, are you ready?
21:35Yes.
21:35Yeah.
21:36Hell yeah.
21:37Your time starts now.
21:43Did Beverly do chat when she was in school?
21:45She might have.
21:48I'm coming in a completely different now.
21:50I literally just grabbed the Wagyu steak.
21:52I'm serving my meat.
21:53And I'm going to let them sit there for the next two hours
21:56while I work on other dishes.
21:57And I'm ready to just keep pushing them out.
21:59It's hard to imagine that if Chris doesn't keep putting dishes out,
22:02how he could not walk away with this thing.
22:04Mind if I jump in this water, Katie?
22:06That's totally fine.
22:07I need one at 85C and the other at 60.
22:09I've been paying attention to what Chris has been doing.
22:11His strategy is to take one method and apply it to a bunch of different things at the same time
22:18and then figure out how he's going to use those ingredients later.
22:22If I want to keep up, I know I need to cook the same way.
22:26I'm working on a celery root foam, a potato foam, and a corn foam.
22:30I am making my egg curls to go inside my egg for the scotch egg.
22:35I'm using six techniques on my scotch egg.
22:38I made a ham stock gel.
22:40I then quickly added the sphered egg whites and egg yolks.
22:44Stuffed that inside of the egg.
22:46The gelatin will set on the inside of the egg.
22:48Let it set, bread it, and then fry it.
22:50And then through the frying process, that jelly liquefies again.
22:55So I'm rendering down this pork fat.
22:57I'm also powderizing pork fat, and I render all that pork fat out, strain that.
23:03Then you take tapioca multidextrin, kind of gets blended in together
23:07until it has that same consistency of powder.
23:09It's going to taste good.
23:11We're starting to see the chefs who took longer squeezing more techniques into each dish.
23:18But Beverly and Cara, if I were in their place, I would feel scared.
23:22They're going to need to employ a lot of techniques.
23:24Out of all the commandments who've done this, this is the most gamified one we've had.
23:27Of course, strategy really does come into play.
23:29All I did in the first half was set myself up to just crank.
23:32Now it's time to score.
23:34Ooh, Cara's rang the bell. Come on.
23:36All right, Cara, we're excited to taste your first plate.
23:39It's a lobster spring roll.
23:41Coached low-cooked lobster.
23:42Compressed watermelon.
23:43Coconut, hoisin espuma, peanut powder, burnt ash.
23:47This is so good.
23:48There's a ton of different textures, which is really great.
23:51My only comment, if I had one, would be, it comes off maybe just a touch sweet.
23:55This is a creative dish chock full of different techniques.
23:59So thank you, Cara.
24:02108 points is okay.
24:05We've got a couple big dishes here that I think will continue to add up.
24:09So this is a take on scotch egg.
24:11I took a consomme of the ham and then spherified the egg oak and egg whites,
24:17put it back into this jelly of consomme.
24:19So as you crack into it, you should, like, pour out.
24:23Oh, my God.
24:24Yeah.
24:25Lucky this is leather today.
24:27I understand now why it took you almost three hours.
24:31We've seen a few powders already.
24:33Yours was the best that we've seen so far and actually tasted like a bear claw ham fat.
24:38You gave us six techniques, all of which I think really were effectively executed.
24:46Hi, Buddha.
24:47Hello.
24:47Ooh, the scores are in.
24:51Cara moved to third place.
24:54Buddha, I'm sorry, that puts you at sixth place right now.
24:56I mean, I do have two dishes.
24:58If you have variations of blackberry, dehydrated blackberry, pickled blackberries with a whipped crème fresh and olive oil powder.
25:05Did you finish yours?
25:06It's damn good, right?
25:07That's a good sign.
25:08Yeah.
25:08And my second dish, it's a tomato salad.
25:10It's been compressed in tom kha.
25:12Tom kha is supposed to have a punch of heat, and to me, it was very appropriate and delicious.
25:17Well done.
25:21Matt Peters taking the lead.
25:23All right.
25:23Beverly still with zero.
25:29Buddha, you run six to first.
25:31Let's go, baby.
25:34Hello, Cara.
25:36Pumping them out now.
25:37Butter poached shrimp with miso espuma.
25:40Cara, I think your shrimp were cooked beautifully.
25:44I love the powder.
25:45It had the exact right amount of spice that it should.
25:49Well done, chef.
25:53Cara jumped right up.
25:54Cara just knocked Matt out of second place.
25:59This is nuts.
26:01The points are really about the techniques.
26:04And so, executing those techniques is where I'm only caring about.
26:09Let's keep going.
26:10Hi, Katie.
26:11Hello.
26:12I made sous vide salmon with smoked corn.
26:15I love this dish.
26:16I just didn't get much smoke in your corn.
26:19I'm sorry.
26:20Yeah.
26:20It's a liquid nitrogen pavlova.
26:23The pistachio powder was really nice.
26:25I made a smoked ribeye kebab, potatoes, and mushrooms.
26:29Good.
26:30Mushrooms had a ton of flavor.
26:32Good work.
26:32Thank you, guys.
26:33Nicely done.
26:33See you all again soon.
26:35It's time for Beverly to take a swing.
26:36Oh, my gosh.
26:37I can't do this.
26:38To plate my pavlova, I stuff it with blackberries, lemon gel,
26:42and chrysanthemum pastry cream.
26:44Brown butter powder.
26:45I've done all the techniques.
26:46I hit the valve.
26:48Hi, Beverly.
26:49Hi.
26:50How are you?
26:51Good.
26:51We're excited to taste your first dish.
26:53I made a lemon and blackberry pavlova.
26:55Beverly, your meringue is great.
26:57Unfortunately, I think that these berries are kind of big.
26:59Maybe you could have thrown them in liquid nitrogen
27:01and broken them up.
27:02Got some flash freezing points there.
27:04Hopefully, you can hustle and get a bunch of dishes going.
27:07OK.
27:07Yes.
27:08Because we want to see you get out of last place.
27:10Yes.
27:14I'm a little worried.
27:15My first dish was a lot of effort for only 99 points.
27:18I don't want to be the last.
27:24Matt.
27:25OK, let's go.
27:26Seared duck breast, seasoned with rosal hanout.
27:29Butter milk, panna cotta first, which is the white one.
27:31And then there's hibiscus to follow.
27:32So we have a strawberry and apricot parfait.
27:35Mmm.
27:37Oh, wow.
27:38Cara, you're in second place now.
27:41It's a long way to go.
27:43You're right.
27:44My strategy is working.
27:45I'm coming out dishes twice as fast as everyone else is
27:47at this point.
27:48OK, now I'm getting full.
27:50What'd you make for us?
27:51So I've got her manchi crudo with smoked hazelnuts,
27:54carbonated grapes, pickled turnips, and walnut oil.
27:57Unfortunately, Butter, slicing your grapes
27:59took the carbonation out of them.
28:01No one's safe.
28:02It's all about technique and strategy.
28:04If you put 10 techniques on a plate, you're available to 300 points.
28:08And if you nail every single one of them, boom,
28:10you're back in the game.
28:13That's two more bells.
28:14It just went off.
28:17Hi, Pete.
28:18Here I have a sous vide cauliflower puree, a plan
28:22beurre blanc foam, and dehydrated bread.
28:25I love your cauliflower foam.
28:27I thought it was luscious and tasty.
28:28The bread, unfortunately, because you put it
28:30on top of something moist.
28:31It's hydrated.
28:32It got soggy.
28:33OK.
28:34The beurre blanc is, like, curious,
28:36and I mean that as a compliment.
28:37I keep going back to it, and it keeps changing as I eat it.
28:40It's very interesting.
28:42Keith, you are skating close to last place.
28:45I want you to bust out some dishes the next 25 minutes.
28:47Oh, I got another dish in the next few minutes.
28:49All right.
28:49We'll see you soon.
28:51I'm getting really full.
28:52Hi, Katie.
28:52Come on over.
28:53Hello.
28:53So what we have here is migas.
28:56Migas is a Spanish dish with, like, breadcrumbs usually
28:58cooked in animal fat.
29:00How are you feeling, Katie?
29:01I mean, it's getting down to it.
29:03The board is, like, flipping all over the place.
29:05Just changed again.
29:07Buda, you're in first place with 516 points.
29:11Oh, my god.
29:12Chris, you are now in second.
29:14Good.
29:16I'm starting to sense a little bit of a, like, .
29:20I really don't want to go home.
29:22Hi.
29:22Hi, Beverly.
29:23How are you?
29:24Oh, good.
29:24Two dishes.
29:25Yes.
29:25So the first dish is snapper that I smoked to feed the sweet potato and the fish caramel.
29:30Beverly, I love this dish.
29:32I think it's flavorful.
29:33It's full of surprises.
29:34This is one of the best examples of sous vide root vegetable we've seen today.
29:38Fish was cooked nicely.
29:39Smoke came through well.
29:40And, you know, generally, quite a nice dish.
29:42And then our next dish, it's avocado coconut sorbet with pineapple mac root soda.
29:47Wow.
29:48Wow.
29:48So it's just two techniques?
29:49Yeah, just two techniques.
29:51Oh.
29:51That's really good.
29:52Yeah, it's very refreshing.
29:53Could've thrown a little whipped cream or something on there, gotten a foam, give you some more points.
29:56I just don't want to go home.
29:58I don't want you to either.
29:59Put something else out.
30:00That's direct and delicious.
30:01Yeah.
30:05Beverly, you're 24 points behind Keith.
30:08I want to survive.
30:09I want to do the best I can, but I feel like I don't know if I can catch up
30:12at this point.
30:14Uh, what can I put out?
30:15Um...
30:16Moose?
30:20Uh...
30:2730 minutes.
30:2830 minutes left.
30:30Um...
30:30Being on the bottom, I have some catch up to do.
30:33Keith is just a few points in front of me, but time is short.
30:41Oh, what can I put out?
30:43Um...
30:43What kind of foam can I put on?
30:44What kind of foam can I put on?
30:45What kind of...
30:45Ugh!
30:45I think I'm jowl.
30:48I'm reaching.
30:49I'm trying to dig really deep.
30:51I don't have much time now, so I've got to figure this out.
30:54Damn, that's scary.
30:55To be at the lead and then now on the verge of getting put out.
30:58I'm only 24 points above Beverly.
31:01I need to get in the game and not be in the bottom.
31:05Tell me what this is.
31:07Call me.
31:07Cold-smoked oyster and a grape horseradish ice.
31:11Sous-vide beef, gochujang, espuma, caramelized onions, sesame powder, and sesame seeds on the side.
31:17I have dish number seven for you.
31:18I've made an everything bagel salmon ta-ta.
31:21Oh, my God.
31:22I can't.
31:24I can't think.
31:25I'm too full.
31:28Fun combo.
31:29Fun flavors.
31:30Well done.
31:30Here, I love this dish.
31:32That sauce.
31:33The foam.
31:34It's beautiful.
31:35The salmon was well seasoned, and I think the salmon eggs really added a lot to the dish as well.
31:39A little pop to it.
31:40Yeah.
31:40At this point, I don't think my score is actually reachable, so I'm not going home.
31:44But I'm not just trying to outrun who's on the top of the leaderboard.
31:47I'm trying to outrun myself and the camera guy.
31:5115 minutes.
31:5315 minutes left.
31:59Beverly, you've got to get some dishes together or you're going home.
32:02I'm not going down without a fight.
32:04We're working on our dessert, our chocolate mousse.
32:07I want to do a caramel caviar to try to get at least 30 more points.
32:11You have 10 minutes left.
32:15I didn't get it right.
32:16I can't tell you the science behind why it's not working right now.
32:19It's just not working.
32:20I don't know if it's from the fat, the caramel.
32:22Come on.
32:23I was at the top of the leaderboard.
32:24And now I'm, like, fighting for my life.
32:26So, moving away from this notification.
32:28Late.
32:29And so I have to pivot.
32:30It's like, compress this, compress that, smoke this, smoke that.
32:34I heard a bell.
32:35Let's go.
32:36There's, like, barely any time left.
32:38Yep.
32:38But I'm like, point, point, point.
32:43Take it.
32:46Matt, what did you make us?
32:48Smoked peanut Thai beef.
32:50I think your cucumber relish was a little bit over salty.
32:54And I could have had some more smoke on your peanuts.
32:59Hi, Chris.
33:00Hi.
33:01What'd you make this time?
33:02So this is compressed cantaloupe.
33:04And then you have, like, a whipped ricotta and mascarpone.
33:06Man, you could have given us just each one piece of melon,
33:09a little bit of that cream.
33:10Yeah, yeah.
33:10You know how many dishes we've eaten?
33:12I don't know how you guys are still standing.
33:13Spare a thought for us, okay, Chris?
33:15Yeah, yeah, yeah.
33:16Please.
33:16This is pure chaos.
33:17I love the board.
33:19I like knowing the numbers and not being in the blind on it.
33:22Five minutes left.
33:23So I know I just need to execute, and I think I could come in first.
33:27Oh, no.
33:29Another steak dish?
33:30Come on, Buddha.
33:35I can't.
33:36I can't walk.
33:38Steak, huh?
33:39Yes.
33:40It's what for dinner?
33:41The wagyu strip loin with four different techniques.
33:44Well done.
33:44The beef is cooked beautifully.
33:46I love the sweetness on the compressed cucumbers.
33:49What'd you make?
33:50It's a Burmese rice crep with sous vide chicken, a peanut, chili multidextrin powder.
33:55You knocked it out of the park with this, honey.
33:57Get some rest.
33:57Get off your feet.
33:59I'm gonna go lie down.
34:01I just don't know what I can do in three minutes.
34:05We're getting down to, like, the wire.
34:07What else can I do?
34:08I can't make another dish.
34:09The chrysanthemum.
34:10I put Zach agar agar in it.
34:11That technically is another fluid gel.
34:14Also, to make it cohesive, I grab some cornflakes, make it like cereal and milk.
34:19Ah.
34:20Ah.
34:21Just get it on the plate.
34:23Just get one more dish on the plate.
34:28I am going down a cliff.
34:31Fast.
34:32Like, in points and in emotions.
34:37Damn, Beverly.
34:38Beverly's putting up two dishes.
34:39Knowing Chef Beverly, I am in a bad position.
34:43I think I have two minutes left to do something.
34:46And I still have the caramel.
34:47I still have the whip.
34:48I fold that in and create a new whip.
34:52I'm in my two-minute offense right now.
34:55And I'm driving down the field.
34:59Ding!
34:59My final dish is definitely a Hail Mary.
35:03Ten seconds.
35:04Oh, my God.
35:05There is no time I have to get this stuff on the plate.
35:11Five, four, three, two, one.
35:15Time's up.
35:16That is the game.
35:17I'm the ass-moving.
35:18Come on.
35:18Let's go eat some more.
35:20Tomorrow's a water challenge, right?
35:21I hope so.
35:23Wow, Beverly.
35:24You got two in.
35:25Good for you.
35:25Yeah, I squeezed a couple out in the last ten minutes.
35:28Avocado sorbet with coconut foam and crispy rice.
35:31How many techniques?
35:32Three?
35:33Yeah.
35:33For something you just pulled out really fast, I thought it was really good.
35:36Maybe be a little touch more acidity in the star fruit.
35:40Okay.
35:41And that would have really made its flavor pop.
35:42And what is this dessert?
35:44It's like milk and cereal.
35:45It's only one technique.
35:46Very fun.
35:47Very whimsical.
35:48It's so good.
35:49It's been years since I've had cornflakes.
35:51Yeah.
35:51Well done.
35:55So here you have a chocolate mousse with compressed peach, sous vide plantain, smoked hazelnut,
36:02and citrus gel.
36:03It's rich, but it's good.
36:04It is.
36:04It's decadent.
36:05I love this dish.
36:06I do think there's a little bit of bitterness in the smoked nut.
36:10You got the salt this time.
36:12Next time, a little bit more acid.
36:13A little more acid.
36:14And what's your second dish?
36:15Just some strawberry chocolate and caramel whipped cream.
36:18Just one technique?
36:18Just one technique, yeah.
36:19Keith, there are only 24 points separating you and Beverly.
36:24It's scary.
36:25It's scary.
36:26Who knows?
36:27I still have two dishes.
36:29All the points aren't up.
36:30Please let this be enough to get me on that board and safe.
36:34All right, chefs, please gather around.
36:37The final scores are in.
36:41Chefs, that was a gastronomic gauntlet.
36:43Over the course of five hours, you served us an incredible 40 dishes.
36:49Wow.
36:50Wow.
36:50It was a well-fought battle.
36:53But only one of you can take first place and secure that all-important advantage in the next commandment.
36:59And believe me, you are going to want this one.
37:03Let's see the scores for our top five.
37:19Let's see the scores for our top five.
37:33Buddha, congratulations.
37:34Well done.
37:35You are the winner.
37:36And you will get an advantage in our next commandment.
37:42Feels great.
37:43I'm glad to finally be on top and also go into the next commandment.
37:47It's an advantage.
37:48Feels great.
37:49Not bad, Cara.
37:50I just tried to play the game.
37:51You played it very well.
37:52It sucks to come in second over and over and over again.
37:55It's a total bummer.
37:57It's like, oh, you're good, but you're not good enough.
38:00And now it's down to the bottom two.
38:05Keith and Beverly.
38:06The chef with the lowest score will be going home.
38:09You were separated by just 24 points going into the final minutes.
38:15How are you feeling, Beverly?
38:16I'm sad that I'm so low.
38:19Didn't play the right strategy this time.
38:21Keith, how are you feeling?
38:23I feel great.
38:24I don't really know these techniques.
38:26I know a couple.
38:27And so I live and die by what I did.
38:29Keith and Beverly, please step forward.
38:39Let's see the scores.
38:49Beverly, unfortunately, you've served your final dish.
38:55I'm so sorry to see you go, Beverly.
39:03This commandment was crazy.
39:04I guess it got the best of me.
39:06I was kind of like in the zone and I got lost in it.
39:11Can I give you a hug?
39:12Yeah.
39:13That would be nice.
39:17It's OK.
39:18You did great.
39:31You did great.
39:34I feel like this past seven weeks, I've grown as a chef,
39:38but I also have grown as a person.
39:40I'm less afraid to be myself.
39:42Yeah, girl.
39:43Do your dance.
39:43You were one point away from perfection.
39:48The chef voted most likely to win.
39:51Beverly.
39:52Just because this chapter is ending here doesn't mean my book isn't continuing to go forward.
40:10All right.
40:11All right.
40:13Bye, guys.
40:14Bye, Beverly.
40:16Bye.
40:17Bye, Beverly.
40:18Bye.
40:18Bye, Beverly.
40:20Keep dancing.
40:24Today we lost a great chef.
40:27Beverly absolutely came to play.
40:29And I just would love to be her friend after all of this.
40:31I have an immense amount of respect for her.
40:33I thought she was going to be the one to win it.
40:34Keith, you made it through with 59 points ahead.
40:37This is a hard one to celebrate.
40:39At this point, you can't even celebrate the wins because of who's going home and how much time you spent
40:45with these people.
40:46Like, even though they asked God to go home in order for me to win that million dollars, you get
40:51it.
40:52Well done, chefs.
40:54We'll see you soon.
40:55Great work.
40:56Next week, we don't want 40 dishes, okay?
41:00I don't know about you guys, but I got to get off my feet.
41:02I'm going to go get a foot rub.
41:07Michael.
41:08I'll rub the right foot.
41:09You rub the left.
41:10Oh, thank you.
41:13Great job, Karen.
41:14She doesn't, like, secretly, like, sneak in there.
41:16I'm never at the top, but I'm never at the bottom.
41:18Sorry, staying somewhere in between.
41:20Second place is the top.
41:20Staying somewhere in between.
41:22Kara's the silent assassin.
41:23That's what we call her.
41:24This was a game to play.
41:26Beverly, unfortunately, went home, and I'm still here.
41:29You know, it's shaking out a little different than people anticipated.
41:32Final six.
41:32Final six.
41:33Final six.
41:34Are we putting it in?
41:34Beverly would want it.
41:35She would want it.
41:37She would want it.
41:37One, two, three, Bev.
41:38Yeah.
41:39Okay.
41:40One, two, three, Bev.
41:45Next time on America's Culinary Cup.
41:47Now our seventh commandment.
41:50Consistency.
41:51Consistency is what separates good and great restaurants.
41:53Making 30 of the exact same dish.
41:5730 pieces at the same time.
41:59That's not easy.
42:00Some of these are really stuck in there.
42:02If it doesn't work out, I think Matt will probably kill me.
42:07Holy .
42:08This past is dangerous.
42:10Within a million dollars on the line, it's brutal.
42:13I'm done.
42:14You see that?
42:16Don't.
42:22Delicious.
42:23Delicious.
42:25.
42:26.
42:26.
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