America's Culinary Cup Season 1 Episode 8

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🏘️ America's Culinary Cup (2026) - Season 1 Episode 8  The moment of truth arrives. In the Season Finale "The Grand Finale: Crown Revealed", the final two chefs face the ultimate challenge: create a five-course tasting menu that showcases their journey, their passion, and their vision. One will be crowned America's Culinary Cup Champion... and the other will leave with pride and lessons learned.  🔹 Episode Highlights: • Final two showdown: head-to-head cooking for the ultimate prize • Five-course masterpiece: appetizer, soup, salad, main, dessert — all judged • Celebrity guest judges join: legendary chefs weigh in on the final verdict • Emotional journey recap: chefs share their transformation from Episode 1 • The crown reveal: tears, triumph & the birth of a culinary star  🔹 Series Info: • Format: Cooking Competition / Reality TV / Culinary Talent Serial • Original Network: [Streaming Platform] | Production: 2026 • Season: 1 | Episode: 8 | Title: "The Grand Finale: Crown Revealed" ★ FINALE • Setting: United States (National Competition) | Language: English • Runtime: ~90 minutes (extended finale) | Clip/Highlight version: ~15-20 min  🎧 Prefer audio? Listen to cooking competition recaps & finale reaction podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts.  👉 Enjoying the series? Hit LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and comment: "Who deserved to win America's Culinary Cup? 👇" Turn on notifications 🔔 for Season 2 updates!  #ShowTVMovies #AmericasCulinaryCup #CookingCompetition #GrandFinale #S01E08 #ChefLife #RealityTV #Foodie #BingeWatch #CulinaryChampion  ⚠️ Copyright Disclaimer: This video is shared for promotional, review, and informational purposes only. All rights to "America's Culinary Cup" belong to the respective producers and networks. This upload complies with Fair Use guidelines (Section 107, U.S. Copyright Act). No copyright infringement intended.

Transcript

00:01I'm Padma Lakshmi and we've scoured the nation to bring together the most elite

00:06chefs and the most renowned judges into the ultimate culinary battleground this

00:12is a test of our ten culinary commandments master them and you win

00:17one million dollars brought to you by our official cleanup partners Don Powerwash

00:27last time on America's Culinary Cup today's a no-holds-barred non-stop gastronomic gauntlet

00:35oh my god this is nuts Buddha congratulations you are the winner and get an advantage in our

00:42next commandment and now Keith and Beverly Chef Beverly you've served your final dish

00:52you can't even celebrate the wins because of who's going home even though they asked God to go home

00:58in order for me to win that million dollars

01:00I feel good today coming into the top six with an advantage what's going on here but let's see

01:18what not advantage it two tables oh three tables three tables oh my god oh we have to put up

01:26something huh it feels great to still be here I made it through molecular gastronomy I thought I was

01:31gonna go home man but very thankful to still be in the competition I'm in the top six among elite

01:37chefs

01:38and it feels amazing American cheese is engineered to melt the same way every time it could be 30

01:46different cheeses and we have to identify whatever it is we have to put up 30 variations I don't like

01:51the

01:52fact that there's 30 of anything maybe we're just assembling sandwiches hello chefs how's everyone

02:07feeling great I feel pretty good like I am adapting to the competition and that fluidity I think is one

02:18of

02:19the most important things you survived six intense Commandments and now six of you remain those that

02:26survived today will be one step closer to winning America's Culinary Cup and one million dollars brought

02:33to you by our official cleanup partners Don Powerwash final six now I mean there is nowhere to hide but

02:41at

02:41the same time I am literally five people away from a million dollar win now let's get into our seventh

02:48commandment consistency to be a great chef it's not enough to make something great once you have to

02:57make it great every single time consistency is the backbone of a professional kitchen and consistency

03:04consistency is what keeps your guests coming back consistency is arguably the most important thing

03:10I talked to my team about consistency more than anything because that's what separates good and great

03:14restaurants today you'll showcase your mastery of consistency by making 30 of the exact same dish

03:24that's a lot of dishes but like no chef is worth anything unless they can be consistent and none of

03:29us

03:29would be here if we couldn't deliver on consistency for your dishes you'll be using one of these cooking

03:36methods grilling poaching or searing I think you get more flavor out of searing and grilling but you don't

03:44get consistency the same way I mean poaching inherently is the most consistent form of cooking of all three of

03:49them without a doubt there's a little room for error on consistency and someone here was insistent that you

03:55must work with fish oh not you darling well he made him you know whatever do molecular gastronomy for

04:04the whole last challenge chefs cooking fish consistently is a whole other animal literally it cooks faster

04:10than meat and can be much more temperamental it's one of the most difficult things to master in the

04:15professional kitchen it's intimidating to be cooking seafood for Michael because he's one of the most famous

04:21chefs in that department in the world Providence is a three Michelin star restaurant the guy's a beast

04:28but don't worry you won't be working alone you'll be working in teams of two I have mixed feelings about

04:34a team challenge it gives you the opportunity to supplement someone else's strengths but it can also

04:39be tricky because your partner could be the person you're going head to head against in the next round

04:46how are you feeling it's not what we were expecting but we never know what to expect Chris who do

04:52you want to

04:52work with I mean I've seen Katie put up some amazing seafood dishes throughout this competition so probably her

04:57thank you Chris Katie who would you like to work with oh gosh that's a good question

05:04sorry Chris

05:07brutal well this is America's culinary cup where you don't always get what you want but do you know who

05:13does get what they want

05:14Buddha Buddha you won the last commandment so you'll get to pick your team wow and what cooking method you're

05:22gonna use

05:23well those and you'll decide the other teams oh my gosh and what cooking method they'll use jeez Buddha is

05:34a competition

05:35veteran he's a strategic player so we should all be a little scared Buddha how does it feel to have

05:41all the power

05:42it feels good but it's a very hard puzzle to navigate Matt is probably my biggest threat and so do

05:51I pair

05:51up Matt with someone that he is not comfortable with and try and get Matt out a lot of things

05:56going in

05:57my head right now or do I team up with Matt because at the end of the day I'm gonna

06:01have a tougher time

06:02getting to the finish line without him Buddha who would you like to work with and what cooking method do

06:08you

06:08want to use obviously I have to play it in my sort of strategic way I'd have to go with

06:13Matt he's a

06:15because door winner and whacking up 30 plates of consistency it's like a walk on a park and I think

06:21the cooking method that will probably go with is poaching you can't beat him join him Matt please join

06:27Buddha all right Buddha which team do you want to pair up to grill I do want to play it

06:34like I'm doing it as

06:35it's fair but I'm not doing that I'm gonna just go down the line I think Katie and Karen and

06:42Keith and

06:42Chris million dollars on the line you're just gonna be like Chris with Keith Katie with Kara yeah it's

06:49definitely some strategy just because their cuisines are actually kind of clashing Katie and Kara gonna

06:54grill you know you got Spanish and Asian you have Middle Eastern you got soul food Keith and Chris are

07:01gonna go searing Chris works over live fire that's how he got his Michelin star Keith just won a challenge

07:07a couple of Commandments ago literally for his grilled hamachi color so why would I give them

07:11grilling my best chances to going to the next commandment is making sure that the other contestants

07:15don't have the best chances to go into the next commandment so Chris and Keith are going to sear

07:21Katie and Kara are going to grill each team will have two and a half hours to make 30 identical

07:29and

07:30consistent dishes the team that finishes in first place will be safe but I can't say the same for the

07:37rest of you and believe me when I say you do not want to end up on the bottom for

07:42this one all right chefs

07:43please head to your stations 30 pieces of fish all flawlessly cooked for chef Michael the seafood king

07:52of LA no pressure right your time starts now good luck so much bigger so my initial idea was to

08:00do a

08:00saffron and tomato bourbon so just talking about the cooking of the trout well I'll just spit out my

08:06idea what I what I what I'm thinking I immediately have a dish in mind halibut we're gonna pipe a

08:11shrimp

08:11bruce and then we're just gonna roll it up and balance in it and then I was thinking of like

08:15a veil that would cover the dish this dish was on my last summer menu and everyone loved it I

08:21like the

08:21idea of like covering the fish so it's more of consistency because I can't see it I don't like

08:25to overcomplicate me either all right let's go for it you all for it I'm all for it all right

08:29let's do it

08:30for this commandment chefs will be scored on four judging criteria taste creativity presentation and

08:37mastery of the commandment each category is worth five points for a total of 20 points from each

08:42judge with a possible perfect score of 60 what exactly is this other than a hairpin this

09:00yes exactly I'm so glad you asked so this is something that pretty much everybody in our

09:05kitchen has a fancy toothpick yes no not a fancy toothpick we're gonna use this to determine how

09:11well the fish is cooked you just put it into the flesh and if it stops right away you know

09:15the fish

09:16is not cooked if it passes through with just general resistance then the fish is warmed through and if it

09:21goes all the way through forget it the fish is overdone exciting yeah finally you don't get one that's

09:26fine we're gonna share one yeah we'll push it in together Michael so today me and Matt will be

09:33making halibut stuffed with a shrimp boss with mussels leeks and hazelnuts Matt is butchering the fish

09:39while he is butchering the fish I need to get the brine on halibut actually does not taste that great

09:44if it's not brined halibut is a large fish don't have to worry about tiny bones and we only have

09:49two and

09:49a half hours to make 30 dishes I cannot have my partner or myself spending an hour cleaning fish

09:55halibut holds together but also you know it's a big fish you can make 40 portions with one right

09:59you know we're only asking for 30 the strategy for consistency here is butterflying the fish open

10:06and then we're gonna pipe the shrimp mousse down the middle fold it back over and torque it up so

10:10it's nice and cylindrical to give us not only even shapes but give us some nice even cooking

10:15there's commandment is consistency we've all worked in these big events we've done banquet style the biggest

10:21challenge is the time you got to make sure that you have all 30 dishes done within that time frame

10:27we are making grilled trout with charred eggplant puree a cilantro mojo verde and artichokes

10:35Karen I make the decision that she's going to butcher the fish and then I'll brine it cook it on

10:41the

10:41grill and then finish it in the oven right before we plate it if I had to do this challenge

10:45what I'd be

10:46thinking about was trying to like make a sauce and a garnish kind of at the same time in one

10:51pot

10:51and this way I could focus all my attention on properly cooking the fish how you feeling about 30

10:57dishes Kara I mean the scaling takes time it's not difficult not royally fillets is probably the

11:02hardest part I'm nervous about cooking seafood for Michael how could you not be I actually tried to

11:08work for Michael for one night only I staged a Michael's restaurant Providence when I was 17

11:14I thought it was one of the coolest kitchen that I've ever been in he has a room just for

11:16fish

11:17breakdown and his focus on seafood was amazing like it was all the things that when I was a young

11:21chef that I was like looking to become pin boning I would love help pin boning I can help with

11:26that

11:27right now the pin bones are these little bones that go in the middle of the fillet that need to

11:32be

11:32removed they're also dangerous because they're the thing that you don't want to swallow because

11:35they're very very small and you can miss them when you're eating the fish you think Buddha had

11:39something going with putting us together as the girls like he's trying to knock us both out

11:43yeah the top two will be safe but I have no idea what's gonna happen to everyone else so

11:51Karen I need to win this I'd like to be safe me too I'm gonna start with the couscous and

11:58make the

11:58beurre blanc simultaneously so we can get those nicely seasoned we're making seared black bass with

12:04cousa and a saffron and tomato beurre blanc Chris had an idea and so we decided to let him create

12:10the

12:11flavor and I'll play this fish I have a fair amount to do cook the zucchini make the fennel salad

12:16cook

12:16couscous and make the beurre blanc Keith's focused on fish breakdown cleaning portioning and eventually

12:24searing I love black bass it is one of the fish I learned to butcher first it's a delicious fish

12:29I

12:30love the texture I think black bass is a great sort of blank slate to build off Keith really has

12:34his work

12:35cut out for him though because black bass are tiny and the fillets are thin the flesh is definitely

12:39smaller than what I would wanted it to be there's no way you're gonna have consistent shapes of fish

12:46because the way a bass is an eight ounce steak is an eight ounce steak they may look different but

12:52you're still getting eight ounces so my approach to consistency is not the same look but the same amount

12:58we're gonna get the fish skin going closer to game time so we can focus on consistency and making sure

13:03that the fish is beautifully cooked so I guess Keith is in charge of all the fish she's gonna butcher

13:08it he's got a scale and butcher and pin bone all that fish by himself it is a lot of

13:14work and then

13:14Chris is gonna do his amazing sauce work we're coming out swinging today I just make those flavors

13:19bold yep I did quite well on my last verblanc so if there's one thing I'm good at is that

13:26you try

13:27the brine dead it's beautiful yeah oh it's so good I decided to go for poaching because we can

13:33sous vide which means we can manipulate the shape of the fish and that's super important when you want

13:40consistency I'm starting on the trimmer I got the brown butter working as well fish is down timer on

13:46I'm gonna start the leak process and the beginning of the sauce and I'll start cooking off those

13:51mussels and clams some of these are really stuck in there they do not want to come out I'm gonna

13:58jump

13:58in with you and pin bone thank you because some of these pin bones are really stubborn pin morning is

14:03a pain but it's also you know something that you have to do and trout is a lot of pin

14:09bones in it I mean

14:10this takes some time but also this is a consistency challenge so it should how's the fish look chef

14:16this is good to be honest I wanted to go halibut but Chris wants bass for the flavor profile that

14:23he's thinking of course wish I had a meaty or white fish this is gonna be challenging it's hard to

14:28take

14:28the tweezers and pull the pin bones out so it's just easier to cut them out it does look like

14:32maybe

14:33Keith is struggling a little bit with the butchering of the fish now I'm thinking should we have chose a

14:37different fish this bass is dangerous should I would have coulda that size you want perfect

14:47perfect yeah I think so how many ounces is that I don't know I'll have a scale but it's one

14:52piece

14:52yes that's one filet they're thin they're thin yeah so we're just gonna have to go high heat get a

14:57nice

14:57color on that's it 30 portions of fish is a lot in two and a half hours but I have

15:03quick ways of doing

15:04things flint of fish you have to be careful that you don't get the bones in there the vast majority

15:11of restaurants they buy filets it's one of the reasons why I work exclusively with wild fish

15:15because it's such a romantic thing to be able to work with whole animals that way I'm very comfortable

15:20making for block and I think for 30 plates it'll be well with the fish so I think it's a

15:25smart move

15:26for this challenge here's the base of it yeah I think it's good on saffron you get all of it

15:34right

15:35yes yeah Kusa is a traditional dish in the Middle East it's usually made with rice and meat as a

15:41stuffing but I'm using couscous so we're kind of just blending flavors and techniques here try to come up

15:46with a cohesive fun dish Chris is excited it's like Michael Jordan in rhythm just give him the ball

15:53I just want to nail this fish so we can win this thing you're good you're golden you're sitting pretty

15:59boy I'm not going for second place that's for sure I know you're not I'm gunning I know I can

16:03out cook

16:04anybody in the room on a given day but as we continue to move up in this competition I do

16:09think

16:09if Buddha and Matt were to leave it would make it a heck of a lot easier this is going

16:14to be the

16:14leeks that are going to be melted that's going to go on top of the halibut Buddha has a good

16:20understanding of strategy so I let him take the lead on the dish our idea is to kind of stack

16:26everything on the fish and then just finish it with the veil and then the sauce that's going to be

16:30the

16:30best way of creating consistency all the way through 30 plates you keep going with what you need to do

16:35I'm going to try and get most of the wrapping done Matt's going to keep working on the garnishes

16:39and I'm going to start filling the fish with shrimp fast and I'm going to start rolling them

16:44next step after this is they get it poaching for about 30 minutes once we portion it and then

16:49we'll then bring it up in a bath of brown butter with the leeks and muscles and then we're going

16:54to

16:54finish it off with a veil Matt and Buddha they have a lot of steps to their dish yeah unsurprisingly

17:00you want to check these look yeah consistent to you yeah I think that's what we're looking for

17:05consistency it's a lot of process but it should enable them to make 30 very consistent pieces of fish

17:12it feels great working as Matt this is fully in at 54 we are just kind of like won it's

17:18interesting

17:19Buddha and Matt went head to head in the first episode and Buddha won by one point keep your

17:26friends close and your enemies closer exactly that's why you guys are so close to me right now

17:33that grill over there has got eggplant all over it but they're going to use that to cook the fish

17:38those fish will stick to the grill I want to jump in there and help them if Michael were grilling

17:42the

17:42fish I wouldn't be worried but uh I am a little anxious about this process I'm going to test cooking

17:48a trout oh okay they're going to use that grill over there so that fear was allayed on my part

17:55I was just confused the egg claims done I'm starting on the eggplant puree I'm putting scallions

18:02confit garlic tahini soy a little bit of lemon I'm gonna leave this a little chunky I like texture

18:09hey I trust you the challenges that we have are getting 30 portions or more so that we have some

18:18room for error in case some things go wrong with some of the portions we can pick the best ones

18:23I'm

18:23feeling like I'm gonna need to start grilling at the 30 minute mark I don't know definitely at 30

18:29minutes because you're right I'm gonna be busy with that just fine it's what we knew hey I'm starting

18:34on the other jokes so I'm gonna start working on the seaweed veils Matt and Buddha what worries me

18:47about what they're doing is it's a lot of process I don't know if that's gonna work for them I

18:51agree with

18:52you I think they're making it hard on themselves this is a challenge about fish cookery and consistency

18:57every component of the dish should be at the service of delicious flavor I like all those bells and

19:02whistles I just don't want them to be there for no reason I want them to serve the dish so

19:07they're

19:08seamless we're gonna achieve consistency by covering our fish with this beautiful veil that will kind of

19:13blanket everything and really make it look consistent but like he mad I kind of went for a gamble the

19:19thing is to be honest this is the first time I've made it I came up with the idea but

19:25my head chef

19:26developed it and she did it but I never made the recipe so the risks of making this veil is

19:32that it

19:32will break it will not come out delicate or it could be too chewy and really just ruin the whole

19:37dish I'm

19:38pouring out the liquid and I don't have much time for it to level out it's gonna firm up I'm

19:44shaking all my

19:44pots and water's going everywhere but I don't have time to worry about that right now because this

19:49thing's gonna set like that if it doesn't work out I think Matt will probably kill me but I have

19:55to

19:55commit to the dish now we're working with a gelatin setting agent that has to be super thin because

20:09they're judging us on consistency and so the most important part is that I have a consistent level

20:14of delay spread out throughout my whole table there's a huge risk but I think I did it you know

20:21check it

20:21yeah thanks great okay relieved first time I've done the veil and it's working this is the literal veil of

20:32consistency Buddha and I both have kind of similar backgrounds I think we understand a very high

20:38level of consistency and technique and it's also kind of good to work together because I kind of get

20:42a little bit clearer picture of like what's going on in his head Buddha is probably my strongest

20:47competition so maybe that'll play off as a possible benefit towards the end this old dog's got a lot of

20:54tricks the youngest one here though Chris yeah I'll take a look I just like both of us to make

21:00the

21:00decisions together that's what you want perfect dude yeah it's absolutely beautiful damn yeah coming

21:06together chef check the cooking of that fish yeah you're good it's like nice and rare on the bomb

21:12crispy on top you're good leave it just like that okay I'm gonna start putting the plate together top

21:16of mind for me is like not messing up the fish and bringing Kara down with me and so I

21:23am grateful

21:23that I need extra portions just take the pretty ones that one's not very pretty help it out and get

21:30some close maybe we take the fish out of the brown butter once it's comes up to temperature we are

21:34then

21:34layering it with leeks mussels clams and then we're gonna give it a final bake in the oven because I

21:42got

21:4237 pieces 37 yeah great my pants hot really hot so I can uh see about that fish the sauce

21:49is hot

21:50the kusa is ready 15 minutes left 15 it's time to go I need four minutes on the cook so

21:57thank you

21:59everybody else is plating by now they're not gonna make it you put the fish on and I'll put the

22:03bell

22:03on yeah there's nine minutes left at five we've got to be plating the fish yes exactly

22:10fish coming shortly five minutes left go ahead come on boys we'll do sauce and fish at the same time

22:18yeah they can't get fish and sauce on in under five minutes three minutes we gotta go my stomach is

22:24in

22:24knots just watching them just keep rolling ass you good Matt yeah I got six more to go I feel

22:32like Buddha

22:33and Matt they speak the same culinary language they can feel what the other's doing they've got a plan

22:38it's like watching a ballet there's nothing better than a quiet kitchen and it's just like and everyone's

22:43just like doing their job this is a little piece in the same way five four three two one time

22:54it up

22:58good job buddy great work don't need to do the big crew store anymore I did with him already

23:03that's only a quarter of it well done guys congratulations thank you first we have Kara

23:10and Katie we made a grilled trout with a burnt eggplant puree grilled artichokes and a mojo verde sauce

23:27Kara and Katie I think you did a great job getting it crispy

23:31we're judging you on the consistency of the cook of the fish there were a couple of fish that I

23:36saw

23:37certainly the ones that were on the thinner side that got a little bit overcooked but also

23:41what I had the thicker portions of fish they were beautifully cooked yeah I think I tried six pieces and

23:47there's a couple that just saw a little bit too much time I love how herbaceous the artichokes are

23:52I think they're really bright the garnishes and vegetables are as great as the fish they were really

23:59well seasoned I love seeing you had a little mold and salt here to finish every piece of fish and

24:04a

24:04squeeze of lemon showed really nice touch great stuff guys yeah really good oh my god we were both

24:10happy with the dish we're both happy with how it turned out whether it's gonna get us in first place

24:14or not we're not sure it's tight competition now it's a beautiful dish I know Chris and Keith tell us

24:19about your dish you have seared black bass with a saffron and tomato beurre blanc and then stuffed

24:26squash a little bit of shaved fennel as well

24:35Keith you were responsible for butchering the fish and searing it yes

24:41Chris I want to know what's in your sauce shallot garlic a little bit of black pepper

24:47bloomed ground saffron and then roasted cherry tomatoes in the pizza oven and then built a beurre blanc

24:53from there mounting with butter a little bit of shio koji and lemon juice sauce is delicious thank

24:59you it might be the best sauce that I've tried today oh thank you so much yeah the fish is

25:04cooked

25:04you very nicely you see that those are bones bones two bones in one piece of fish this one up

25:28unfortunately there were a few bones

25:32sorry I screwed it up with the fish okay buddy we're still in there for a seafood challenge to

25:36find bones is no bueno it's extremely unfortunate we put together a great dish but for Keith to

25:43leave bones still in the fish is going to take us down and there's a lack of consistency in the

25:48cutting of the fish as well see this one looks pretty nice and big this one on the other hand

25:56is much shorter and it's curling when you have a fillet bass it's already inconsistent and so if we

26:05try to just portion all one size we wouldn't have had enough to actually do 30 pieces we could fix

26:11another fish what my advice would have been just cut them smaller and you've been able to get 30 more

26:18consistently sized portions out of the amount of fish that was back there the shapes weren't the

26:24same I get it I could have chose a different fish and I have to live with that as far

26:30as flavor and

26:31composition and dish you guys did a great job thank you thank you chefs as always bones man when you

26:39have a partner and you drop the ball and they suffer it just hits different I made a terrible

26:45mistake if Chris and I are at the bottom is it a double elimination or two people cooking off I

26:51just

26:52want the opportunity to redeem myself no matter what all good and now we have Buddha and Matt what did

26:59you

26:59make for us halibut that's been rolled and stuffed with a shrimp fast covered with a veil that in cases

27:07melted leeks and mussels and finished off with a beautiful sauce made with clam juice it's a very

27:13sophisticated dish

27:21very tasty

27:24Buddha can you tell me about the veil yeah so the veil was made with khalasoro geliche

27:28thyme some lemon peel I then blended some nori into it I set it with kappa carrageenan

27:36um well done chef very consistent and I use my handy dandy pick they are pretty much all the

27:43same temperature there's many components seasoning is fantastic I think the sauce delicious you really

27:50get that clam flavor it is incredibly consistent plate to plate to plate to plate I love this dish

27:56as well at first I thought like with that veil it was a little bit of Buddha being Buddha but

28:01it serves

28:02a purpose here it's delicious it's not just show it's a consistency strategy the hazelnut is a nice

28:10surprise a nice crunch that's hidden in there I think it's a beautifully composed dish it shows off

28:17all of your technical prowess nice balance of flavor well done chefs congratulations a beautiful

28:23beautiful plate me and Matt we worked fantastically together we definitely used each other to our best

28:29capability and we did something that was incredible nice that's good good dish good dish let's score

28:40but I can get the dawn power wash yeah nice I thought that went well if we would have cooked

28:45it

28:45any further made it any hotter I think the fish would have been over yes we'll have to see the

28:51scores

28:53like brander

28:57they were right that we could have baked a different fish and I think it put us in a disadvantage

29:02because

29:02as much as I was saying black bass they were on the smaller side they were small they were small

29:07he said excellent chef I guarantee you go eat at his restaurant you'll never find a single pin bone

29:12it's just on this competition things can slip by

29:19but this is a scary moment for both of us he and I have cooked on the bottom a bunch

29:24of times him more

29:25than me but if we got to cook again that's why we're here on this competition

29:34all right chefs please come down

29:45well the scores are in and the winning team will be safe and moving on to our next commandment

29:52let's see the scores

29:59Wow Buddha and Matt first place with 57 points congratulations I've been doing competitions since

30:06I was like 14 and if I was to tell my 14 year old self that I'd be plating up

30:1030 plates with a

30:11bakustle winner you'd probably say you know you're kidding Matt if you don't watch out Buddha's gonna

30:17start a Matt fan club I've already started it Matt has always been the biggest threat I have never

30:24gone against someone of that caliber in any competition I admire because still chefs but

30:30I'm you know I'm also excited to see if I could take him out Buddha and Matt you won first

30:37place that

30:38means obviously that you're safe but the four of you will all be cooking again in a four-way showdown

30:46I know the definition of showdown oh my god I really don't want to cook again I thought second

30:54place would be safe I'm glad that it's four people cooking opposed to just me and Chris having a cook

31:01off the more people the better chances I have to stay in the competition so here is your final

31:08consistency challenge the ultimate test of a chef to make a French omelet a high-end restaurants don't

31:18hire people unless they can cook a French omelet because it shows understanding of cookery and how

31:23dedicated have you been to your craft making a proper French omelet creamy in the center pale yellow with

31:30absolutely no browning and perfectly folded is a rite of passage for any chef it's a staple thing you

31:36work in French kitchens and one of the first things you learn how to do is egg cookery and

31:39making French omelets is a specific part of that if not the only part of that you'll have 10 minutes

31:45to give us the perfect French omelet 10 minutes French omelets in 10 minutes from start to finish

31:52gathering ingredients gathering equipment but that's impossible you have 10 minutes please head to

31:58your stations I have been cooking in a professional kitchen for almost two years and I'm pregnant so it's

32:04just like surreal that I made it this far and now it's not that getting to the million dollars is

32:09resting on making a perfect omelet Matt and Buddha you can relax up there we'll take our omelets in the

32:15dining room good luck to you all everyone's nervous do I cook all four at once that's crazy how do

32:21I do two and

32:22two like what is the strategy here your time starts now I love making French omelets

32:36four omelets three ingredients hard challenge wonder if they're going to be able to hoard everything

32:44this is our first 10 minute cook that scared the daylights out of me eight minutes holy every

32:51competition we've had that last 10 minutes is when you better start plating so in my head I'm like

32:56you're already behind the clock I don't even know if this is enough time with a million dollars on the

33:01line it's brutal a perfect French omelet is lightly seasoned not heavily seasoned the outside should not

33:07have any brown no it should be this beautiful sort of canary yellow I would uncharacteristically use

33:14unsalted butter and it's really quick properly made omelet is truly like maybe the greatest invention of

33:20Western civilization wow my strategy is to crack the eggs all in one bowl and drop them one by one

33:28because

33:29why would you take the time to crack four eggs into separate bowls wild to me I got to put

33:34energy to

33:35other things six minutes

33:42cheese that went by fast I can't believe my future in this competition comes down to cooking omelets

33:52consistently down my strategy is to start all four on low heat get two of them pretty set set them

33:59off

33:59the heat and then finish the other two okay there we go there we go when I roll my eggs

34:06I realized

34:07underneath that one was brown brown is not an option you want it to be yellow so I'm trying to

34:12get

34:13another omelet made but I'm running out of time through this competition I've been fighting for

34:19my place and so I'm not giving up I realize that my flames are too high then I'm trying to

34:30adjust the

34:30flame then I have to go back to the first egg I'm cooking and try to get that right and

34:34then I realize

34:34I'm losing focus on the other three and then everything just goes to you know hell in a handbasket

34:39Chris is not doing good something's funny he doesn't have an omelet he's scrambling

34:46I'm done I'm done that's not looking good for him

34:58panicking panicking I try to remake the ones that didn't turn out the way I wanted them to

35:04and just in complete panic I mean I'm about to go home if I don't cook this one perfect

35:13this challenge is 10 minutes of stress not ideal the only thing that's keeping me through this

35:19whole competition with that pressure staying calm trying to get another omelet made and it's setting

35:26but I'm running out of time I feel better about a couple that I'm making but I know that I'm

35:33probably

35:33going to end up putting up a less than perfect product on one if not multiple plates this is a

35:39consistency challenge and these omelets are far from consistent 45 seconds how much 45 seconds

35:46it sounds like carnage right now oh my god 20 seconds heard 20 seconds I'm throwing omelets on plates

35:55there is no finesse in shaping a beautiful torpedo I'd probably be pulling my beard out if I was out

36:01there watching this five four three two one oh my god me yep me too I think I'm going home

36:15I've had a lot

36:16of highs and lows on this competition I mean I was chosen as least likely to win and uh I'm

36:21still here

36:22but no I can't believe my place in the competition rests on a freaking french omelet

36:37we all made exactly the same thing we're watching the judges passing the plates they're talking about

36:44it in front of us it's not easy it's a hard one in this moment I am incredibly stressed okay

36:51the green this is Katie's it's got beautiful color it's nice and blonde on the inside yeah this is

37:00Kara's these have a great shape yeah great shape it's a little too liquid I'm okay with that yeah I'm

37:04okay with that too that's how I like my eggs okay this is Keith's plate

37:11that's salty I agree yeah it's omelet on your plate so brown so overcooked well that's not good no

37:19Chris's omelet was very dark the same problem that Keith had on one of his plates there's inconsistency

37:37Katie's was the most consistent out of all four Kara's less so from the comments

37:45I know it's between Chris and I chefs it's time to decide who will be moving on and who will

37:50be going

37:55home the chefs that served my least consistent omelet is Keith

38:08Michael who had your least consistent omelet

38:20teeth Wiley Keith understood I'm sorry Keith you served your final dish thank you all love you buddy

38:33love you too thank you it's been a pleasure absolutely seriously I fought the good fight

38:40one thing I've been consistent that is fighting in this competition for my place

38:45and I'm proud of that I am someone who grew up with less than other people like I come from

38:55lots I

38:56overcame the games prison poverty how to go to culinary school my introduction to the kitchen was

39:04surviving let the evidence show I am toasting some coriander this is delicious Keith at 169 points

39:16I just want to thank you this has been an honor and as much as it's done for me it's

39:23done more for

39:23my community to be able to see me on this platform and be inspired and you've inspired all of us

39:30as well

39:30thank you thank you thank you for you if I inspire one person where I come from I've won love

39:37thank you

39:37chef much respect

39:44congratulations chefs you are still in the game

39:54congratulations you made it to the top five I am ecstatic when I entered this competition I never

40:03expected to make it this far I have a one in five chance of winning this competition and a million

40:11dollars I can do this honestly that was the most that was the most anxiety I've had in any cooking

40:20John well done chefs we're now down to the final five it feels incredible to still be here the skill

40:32set of

40:33all the other chefs I'm like you know battling the ever-present am I meant to be here feeling so

40:39it's

40:40really special to be in the final five only one of you can walk away with one million dollars get

40:46some

40:47rest we'll see you very soon bye thank you good night can you believe there's only five left it's like

40:55a

40:55culinary super group a grateful bread Fleetwood mac and cheese snacks you boys

41:06all right shall we go and speculate what's this

41:12she'll go back home crawl up in a ball and whisper consistency in the corner

41:18I don't think I'm so happy that was a short one at least it was like

41:23absolutely did not think I would get this far I'm pregnant where are we at now banana size what

41:30are you doing we're past banana we're past banana I don't know I have to look up this food food

41:34chart

41:34banana was last week fact the matter is if I lose they beat a pregnant lady so what would happen

41:39if I

41:39wasn't pregnant is all I'm gonna say we get to change out of these gross coats mine smells so fishy

41:49stay tuned next time on America's culinary cup our culinary commandment is world cuisine so nervous

41:59to put up a Korean dish for road trade station's an absolute war zone I could be going hard I

42:04haven't

42:04felt like this ever it's an interesting turn of events I have no idea how this is gonna go it's

42:10election day on an all-new ghosts will it be Isaac my fellow ghost Americans or will it be flour

42:15I just have one question what is this for this is all new CBS Thursday and streaming on Paramount Plus

42:24Fire Country is all new CBS Friday 9 8 central and streaming on Paramount Plus

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