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America's Culinary Cup Season 1 Episode 10
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00:01I'm Padma Lakshmi and we've scoured the nation to bring together the most elite chefs and the
00:07most renowned judges into the ultimate culinary battleground. This is a test of our 10 culinary
00:15commandments. Master them and you win one million dollars. Brought to you by our official cleanup
00:21partners. Don Powerwash. Last time on America's Culinary Cup, our culinary commandment is world
00:32cuisine. I feel let down. This is a very bad lemon rice. I could be going hard. I haven't felt
00:37like
00:38this ever. I feel like I have something to prove. I was voted least likely to win the competition.
00:44Congratulations, Chris. Wow. The first chef to earn a perfect score on a dish. Thank you.
00:51Katie, you served your final dish. Thank you. This is the final four. It's do or die for all of
00:58us.
00:58You are most likely to win now. There's no room to hide and I'm ready to win a million dollars.
01:04I
01:04think some people are more nervous than others. The expectations set. May the best chef win.
01:20Well, that's the wrong floor.
01:23Not a lot left. It's down to the four of us. If I had to say who is my strongest
01:28competition,
01:29it would be Buddha. He knows how to play the game. So stark in here. I guess despite being rusty,
01:35I still made it to the final four. It feels reaffirming that I can, like riding a bike,
01:40I guess. Wow. I know this is wild. I'm a runner. This competition is definitely more of a marathon
01:47than a sprint. I've fallen into a bit of a rhythm here after a few stumbles early on.
01:52Now that we're close to the finale, I feel like I'm kind of in that runner's high.
02:06Huh. How's that helping us? That's a lot of cinnamon. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner? I don't
02:11think we're doing a breakfast challenge. You know, I've had a great couple of weeks and then
02:14I bumbled it last week. And just like sports, you know, you're going to have an off day. And
02:18I flew way too close to the sun than I want to be. What could it be?
02:35Welcome to the semifinals of America's Culinary Cup. Give yourselves a hand.
02:40By the end of today, only three of you will be left and advance to the finals. There,
02:48you'll fight one last time for America's Culinary Cup and $1 million. Brought to you by our official
02:56cleanup partner, Don Powerwash. Chefs, you've conquered every culinary commandment we've thrown
03:01at you. But today, we go to the heart of your craft. Today's commandment is...
03:10Mastering the art of taste. There's no greater weapon in a chef's arsenal than their own palate.
03:20Today, you'll be tested on the five taste profiles. Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami.
03:28Mastering the five basic tastes is essential to creating food that's balanced, satisfying,
03:35and memorable. Knowing how to use them to layer dishes is an essential skill. Today, we will test
03:42your ability to use these five tastes to create memorable and delicious dishes. Taste is by far
03:48the number one commandment for probably most chefs out there. I'm excited. I think that is one of the
03:54strengths that I have. For today's commandment, you each have to create two dishes. One must be hot,
04:00and one dish must be cold. Both dishes have to showcase one of the flavor profiles. And of course,
04:07your dishes still have to be balanced. However, you won't be deciding your flavor profile.
04:13It will be determined at random by the board.
04:17Everybody would love to have umami. Umami is like the easiest one to do.
04:22All the good has umami. I might be the only person who likes bitter.
04:31So sweet is Chris. Sour is Cara. Salty is Matt. And bitter is Buddha. And no one got umami.
04:41I got bitter. Not really my choice of the five flavor profiles. But if I make it through to the
04:47end,
04:47I want to be bitter about that. Chefs, you'll have 75 minutes to create your two dishes.
04:54However, since Chris won the last commandment, you earned an extra 30 minutes for your cook.
05:03Wow. Wow.
05:04Feel pretty sweet? Uh, yeah, now I do. Now I really do.
05:08Oh, but here's the catch. Oh, boy.
05:11In order to get those 30 minutes, you'll have to take it from your competitors.
05:17Oh, wow.
05:18You can take 30 minutes from one chef or 15 minutes from two chefs. It's up to you.
05:25Playing the strategy right could be the difference between winning a million dollars or just going home.
05:31Feeling a little salty. Oh, boy. I don't know if I like that.
05:34If I was Chris, I would take 30 minutes away from Matt.
05:36Good. It's the biggest threat.
05:38I'm pregnant.
05:39Yeah, yeah, yeah.
05:41I've never won once, though. Just saying.
05:44Regardless of her saying anything, the woman's in her second trimester running around and making food.
05:49I'm not going to steal time away from her. My mom would slap me upside the head.
05:52I'll give both of these gentlemen 15.
05:55Matt and Buddha have some of the best chances of winning.
05:57Just like, sorry, boys. Someone's got to go home, and I don't want it to be me.
06:01The baby thanks you.
06:02That means that Matt and Buddha will each have one hour, and Kara, you'll have your full 75 minutes.
06:10And Chris, that means you'll have one hour and 45 minutes.
06:15Please take your stations.
06:17It's a big advantage time, but for Chris, it might be his own Achilles heel.
06:22It makes him think too much, but it is, in general, the best advantage.
06:27Chris, your time starts now. Good luck.
06:31I hope that the extra time does not trip up, Chris, because last week's pappardelle,
06:38one of the best dishes he made, he made when he didn't have that much time.
06:41He does have a tendency to add rather than subtract.
06:45We shall see.
06:46I did just come off of a perfect score, which is a massive win,
06:48but there's more pressure on me because I have extra time, so I just start hustling.
06:53I walk in the pantry and just see the cod, and I love cod, and that naturally speaks to me.
06:57I love sweet applications with cod, so I'm like, okay, let's use that as the driving point for the hot
07:02dish.
07:03Then I'm looking at cold, and I'm like, all right, well, we're already doing fish.
07:06Why not do two different fish dishes, which is a little bit of a risk, but I'm like, you know
07:09what?
07:09I'm just going for it.
07:11Chris is having a nice little delicate stroll into the pantry.
07:16It's like he's shopping for his kid at home.
07:18Yeah, do I need milk?
07:20God, that must be nice to have an extra 45 minutes, then me and Matt to just take your time
07:24and get everything out.
07:26But, hey, I should have won the last challenge.
07:29I saw a little bit of a different Chris today.
07:32After winning last week.
07:33I think it gave him a little swagger.
07:35Yeah, like, he kind of ran away with it last week.
07:37Yeah.
07:37He had been at the bottom, and his fellow competitors also voted him to be the one most likely to
07:43lose this competition.
07:44That's right.
07:45I think he's found a little bit of confidence.
07:47I'm just going to portion some fish just to get it out of the way.
07:50Are you doing tuna for both dishes?
07:52Just one.
07:52Black cod with one, tuna with the other.
07:54Last thing I want to do is have extra time and not take full advantage of it, so I'm trying
07:58to focus on just getting myself set up so I can just focus on flavor, execution, and beautiful plating.
08:03Best chance of success is when you know you're cooking food that you're in love with.
08:06I absolutely love roasted cabbage.
08:07It's one of my favorite things to eat on the planet.
08:09Cabbage has a little natural sweetness when roasted nicely.
08:12I have the time to roast them in the pizza oven, bring out some of the natural sweetness as well.
08:17Cara, your time starts now.
08:20I'm feeling like it's tight for time, this challenge.
08:23So my strategy is to work on the things that take the longest first and then progressively move through what
08:28I can push towards the end.
08:29My hot dish is a Kung Pao cauliflower, which is a classic Sichuan-style stir-fry made with cauliflower instead
08:37of chicken.
08:38Sour is one of my favorite tastes.
08:41I love a lot of acidity in everything I cook.
08:45Cara loves to cook, like, from her Chinese heritage, and there's all sorts of incredible Chinese dishes that really feature
08:50very, very sour tastes, which I love.
09:01I'm starting on cauliflower threads, and I'm going to cry back in some kimchi juice.
09:05They're going to get deep-fried for a Gong Bao-ji.
09:07I just want some acid pumped into them because, you know, the whole sour challenge.
09:11I'm adding kimchi juice in, which is not standard, but I want to reinforce the sour to make sure that
09:16we have another layer of acid in the dish.
09:19So it's already almost been an hour?
09:21Yeah, it's been 45 minutes already.
09:24She's...
09:24I don't remember that ever feeling that fast.
09:27I'm not happy with just the one hour.
09:30Losing that 15 minutes, it hurts.
09:33It's a lot to ask for in one hour.
09:34Yeah.
09:35Better in one hour, there's no room for error.
09:38This could be it.
09:39I could be going home.
09:49Chris decided to take 15 minutes from both Buda and I, so we only have one hour to cook.
09:55Matt and Buda, your time starts now.
10:00It's already hard enough to put up one quality dish in one hour, but to do two dishes, one hot,
10:07one cold, that is where it gets really difficult.
10:11In this competition, you have to be quick, and you have to take all your experience and trust your gut.
10:19I get salty, and I need something simple and fast to plate, specifically seafood.
10:25The scallops are going to be for my hot.
10:27For my hot dish, I am going to be making a seared scallop almondine with salt, roasted and baked leeks,
10:34and lots of brownie, salted capers.
10:39We're at the semifinals now, and one of these four chefs will not make it to the final.
10:44The chefs are in a tough spot right now.
10:47My flavor profile is bitter.
10:49I probably got the most difficult category to go into the semifinal with.
10:53I'm bitter about losing out on time.
10:55Plus, Chris just took 15 minutes away from me.
10:58Yeah, things aren't looking up.
11:00For my bitter hot dish, I'm doing lamb with some bitter leeks.
11:03I want to go more for like a Sunday roast vibe, beautiful bitter leaf salad with roasted lamb.
11:08Buda has bitter.
11:10That's a harder category because you don't want it to be over-bitter.
11:14I love bitter.
11:15Coffee, arugula salad, grapefruit, Michael.
11:20Yeah, we all know like Wiley's a bitter pill to swallow, but as Wiley said, there's all sorts of opportunities
11:26when it comes to bitter foods.
11:33I'm toasting some coriander seeds, and I'm going to make my tahini with date sauce, which adds a little bit
11:39of sweetness.
11:40Traditionally, this is a base for a crudo for a tuna, so that'll be my cold dish.
11:44I feel great about the extra time I have, but it's also, you know, I just want to make sure
11:48I execute.
11:49Last thing I want to do is have extra time and then not take full advantage of it.
11:52My cold dish is a bigger risk.
11:55I've never done this preparation of sauce alongside raw seafood before.
11:59This is either going to hit or it's going to sink me.
12:04I'm making a kung pao sauce.
12:06For the kung pao cauliflower, there's an acidic product in every component in the sauce except for sugar, because you
12:13need some balance there.
12:14Cashew butter is going to add a lot of fat to cut through the acid.
12:18So that combination allows you to balance the acid, but make it the star of the show.
12:27What do you think the pitfalls are for mass dishes?
12:30Salty is the one where I think you have to push it to the limit, but you have to realize
12:35where that limit is.
12:37Give us all those really strong salty flavors, but balance them.
12:43For my cold dish, I'm using naturally salted ingredients, sea urchin, caviar, sea beans.
12:48So I'm going to take toasted brioche, kind of do it unitos.
12:54This is going to be a little bit of this church cheeto avocado puree that I'm going to use with
12:58the uni and the caviar.
12:59The salty element doesn't really bother me.
13:01It really comes down to time.
13:03Chris and Kara both have additional time, and their dishes are probably going to be more elaborate because of that
13:11time advantage.
13:12I need to make sure that these two dishes look like I had an hour and 45 minutes.
13:19I'm flossing my hamachi.
13:21For my cold dish, I'll be making a hamachi crudo, which is going to have sort of Thai influence into
13:28that.
13:29I'm adding some bitter melon.
13:31Bitter melon is the epitome of bitter.
13:35It literally numbs your tongue.
13:37If you don't pickle it or make it sweet and sour, it's going to hurt your palate.
13:41It's a lot of risk using it, but I'm a risk taker.
13:46Perfect.
13:48Oh, yeah.
13:49I'm making a glaze for my cabbage.
13:52This is going to bring out the sweetness in my hot dish.
13:57For my sour cold dish, I'm making a crudo.
14:02This is sort of an East East West kind of dish in the sense that it's got lots of Asian
14:06undertones with a few dollops of cream and fat and dill that was more typical in Europe.
14:12It's got at least four different types of citrus going into it.
14:15Ponzu is also acidic.
14:17Sour cream and creme fraiche are also naturally sour.
14:19So you're going to get lots of variations of the version of sour and different flavor profiles.
14:25Chris, you have five minutes left.
14:29I want to prove that I'm supposed to be in the finals.
14:32The extra time I had has given me a lot more time to really take my time.
14:36But also, it's scary that I could have an advantage and still be going home.
14:41Three, two, one.
14:43Time's up, Chris.
14:45Hands up.
14:46Let's eat, Chris.
14:48All right.
14:50Chris, what was your taste profile?
14:52And tell us about your hot dish.
14:54My taste profile was sweet.
14:56You have seared black cod, tahina arra, which is spicy tahini sauce, and then like a sweet glazed cabbage.
15:03It is delicious.
15:04Okay.
15:04There's no doubt about that.
15:05It's super delicious.
15:06That cabbage is the star of your plate.
15:08Okay.
15:09I wonder why you chose to put the sweetest element on the cabbage, which is not really like the center
15:16of this dish.
15:17Taking it, you think I should have done it on the fish?
15:19Or not even served us the fish.
15:21You didn't need it.
15:22Okay.
15:23I think you could have gotten away with just putting this tahina in the bottom, dropping the cabbage on top
15:28of it with the sauce, and that would have been a real mic drop.
15:32Understood.
15:32Thank you, Chef.
15:33Let's talk about your cold dish.
15:35My cold dish is a tuna crudo.
15:38This is a play on an Iranian dish called Kaliye Korma, which Korma, and there's a word in Farsi for
15:43dates.
15:43So it's a sauce of caramelized red onion, garlic, dates to be poured over top.
15:49I mean, I've never had sliced raw tuna bathed in this kind of sauce, but I have to say, I
15:57really like it.
15:58With your cold dish, you really hit the nail on the head, so congratulations.
16:01I like this tuna dish a lot, Chris.
16:04I like the fact there's a little floral element that you put in the sauce, so that was really quite
16:08nice.
16:08In some way, this sauce reminded me of French dressing.
16:11I definitely get the sweetness in both your dishes.
16:15I'm just trying to wrap my head around making fish when you could have taken an easier path.
16:21Well, hopefully that doesn't take me down.
16:25I cooked really well last week.
16:27I got a perfect score.
16:28Thank you very much.
16:29And now all I can think of right now is, is that first dish going to send me home?
16:34Why?
16:34Why did he put the fish on?
16:43Two minutes left, Kara.
16:45With two minutes left, the last thing I have to do is tossing the cauliflower in that sort of glaze.
16:53are those pans on her stove they're two walks over there walks yes maybe she'll be walking into the
16:59finals plating these two dishes I'm feeling the pressure being in the final four anything could
17:08send anyone home at this point I'm also nervous I made it too spicy because I'm always worried
17:12I make everything too spicy nothing like a fiery dish to go out on a million dollars is a lot
17:18of
17:18money I want to win it's not worth putting up something okay versus putting up something great
17:30hi Kara beautiful what is your taste profile I'm sour you're sour and tell us about your hot dish
17:42it's a hot and sour gong bao cauliflower some classic dish from Sichuan there's some cashew
17:48butter on the bottom some pickled chilies I know this dish well this is a particularly good version
17:54of it I think you've got a lot of tart and sour notes and they're very well layered I think
18:00you
18:00did an excellent job and I have no notes on your cauliflower dish I love the spice level that exists
18:06in this dish the sour element definitely comes through and then the cashew butter itself just
18:13kind of the perfect oil for all of that acidity and all of that spice I feel it's got a
18:19lot
18:19of umami I would actually like to see it a little bit more sour and tell us about your cold
18:27dish so
18:28it's a scallop crudo there's a creme fresh sour cream and koshu with some citrus juice as the base oh
18:36I
18:36definitely get the sour I enjoyed this dish as well I especially like the white soy that you put in
18:41the
18:41creme fresh I love that like savory kind of base note that it gave to the dish I love how
18:47it's got
18:47multiple forms of sour on it I love the raw scallop I love the fact that there's these tiny little
18:53crunchy bits of poppy seed on it I think this dish is fantastic all right I have a few things
18:59to say
19:01I'm not a fan of raw scallops and I thought that the scallops were drowning in the sauce but the
19:09flavors combined of all your sauces was really sour and that's what the assignment was thank you
19:16Kara thank you I feel proud of what I made whether the judges like it or not is out of
19:21my control at
19:21this point the cauliflower dish I mean it seems to be two against one I just think she didn't need
19:26so
19:26much of the sauce Kara's cauliflower dish was sour yet balanced and Kara's scallop dish was sour and
19:32unbalanced let's score Kara's dish
19:38how'd it go you never know I mean I had a lot more time than everybody and I should have
19:44just
19:44done vegetarian nothing ever turns out exactly what I want even though I had extra time today you get an
19:50idea in your head and it's hard to self-edit it felt like I would be playing it too safe
19:55and not
19:55trying hard enough and you know we'll see I just hope it doesn't send me home I love washing with
20:00Don power wash suffer it's magic magic Matt and Buddha you have 10 minutes left
20:12the races
20:16they want a cold dish I'm gonna give them a cold dish believe it or not the only times I've
20:20actually used liquid nitrogen is when I've been on television if you use this ingredient properly
20:26it saves you so much time and what I don't have is time I just put lemongrass cilantro scallions a
20:36little
20:36bit of garlic bird's eye chili and I chopped them into a powder I did that in 20 seconds because
20:42of
20:42liquid nitrogen so I'll just show you five minutes Matt and Buddha three minutes left right now I know
20:50as I'm plating this that I'm one step closer to getting to the finale my goal was never to run
20:56somebody else's restaurant and so winning a million dollars in this competition is finally gonna get
21:00me across the finish line of completing the restaurant that I've always dreamt of opening
21:06now that we're closer to the finale I am closer to a million dollar win five four three two one
21:16time's up everybody hands up
21:23will the judges deduct points for the simplicity of my toes oh boy oh chef I'm not sure but hopefully
21:31the
21:31balance of those flavors they can understand where my approach is Matt what was your flavor profile
21:37uh salty what is your hot dish so the hot dish is pan roasted scallops with kind of like an
21:44almondine
21:44if you will toasted capers brown butter salted and roasted grapes and then salt baked leeks your hot dish
21:51was salty in all the right ways you made this crunchy and bright very well balanced almondine the only
21:58thing I wish is that you know I've come to love your sauces over the course of this competition and
22:02I would have loved a little bit more almondine yeah pan juices yeah I think your leeks are the star
22:09of
22:09this plate I love how salty they were but you did need that touch of sweetness from the grape to
22:16break up
22:17all the saltiness in this dish which really was right on the verge but I mean all in all great
22:23dish thank
22:23you please describe your cold dish that's our uni toast for salty I really wanted to use ingredients
22:29that were already salted roasted shishito and avocado puree salted yuzu kosho and then some
22:35salted sea beans blazed over top of the uni with some caviar is there anything we should know about
22:40the toast or is it just toast I mean you didn't make the bread you had it home if I
22:46was able to
22:46do that in an hour I mean give me the check now I really like this dish and I thought
22:50it was very
22:51smart of you to just highlight three ingredients which were naturally salty the only thing I would
22:56say is maybe I would have also put a couple drops of lime juice over the top of the whole
23:00thing just to
23:00set off like the natural salinity absolutely those ingredients I really like your cold dish and I think
23:06you have a nice amount of salinity so it didn't feel like you tried to over salt something in a
23:12taste of the ocean which is beautiful I think I would have loved to have maybe had it smaller and
23:17more of that delicious green puree but very clever thank you Matt thank you nice job thank you appreciate
23:22it question yep if food it crosses and I'm going home let's for Matt I think all in all given
23:31an hour
23:31it was an impressive a lot of work an impressive amount very impressive impressive oh wow hi Buddha
23:41hello what is your taste profile taste profile is bitter tell us about your hot dish so my hot dish
23:47is a lamb saddle it's been roasted a little bit of reza anut with a braised undive that's been cooked
23:52in
23:53date molasses served with a light salad of castelfranco with goat's curd hazelnuts and honey I like that you
23:59some bitter greens but unfortunately I had two pieces of bone on my plate I think I would have
24:05liked to have had it be just a little bit more bitter okay I like the lamb Buddha I think
24:10I probably
24:10got better cuts than what you got Wiley I love braised endive and I thought what you gave us was
24:15a
24:15really good example of a properly prepared braised endive I did get the bitter not only in those
24:22beautiful leaves but I got it also in the hazelnut I just wish my lamb was treated a little bit
24:28better
24:29tell us about your cold dish Buddha okay so it's hamachi with a dressing made from pomelo and pickled
24:35bitter melon with avocado you certainly found the bitterness in all of these ingredients there's no
24:41doubt about that my only comment about this is that I think all of it kind of overwhelms that poor
24:46yellowtail you really nailed the bitter Buddha but I have to agree with Michael I think the fish is
24:53it's completely lost it's drowning and everything that's put on top of it I might be the biggest fan
24:58of bitter at the table and I love what's going on here in terms of the different textures and the
25:04bitterness I like bitter melon I've never had bitter melon like this and you clearly in a mere hour came
25:10up
25:10with the dish that you put a lot of thought into all right thank you thank you Buddha I can't
25:16confidently say that they liked it that much it is what it is that's how everyone feels let's score
25:21Buddha what can you do in an hour right it's like it's tight I did what I could yeah it
25:30just really
25:30depends on how the judges score everything I hope it's enough to get me into the finale
25:37chefs your task was to take your assigned taste profiles and make two dishes one hot and one cold
25:44only three of you will move forward in the finals the two chefs with the top scores will automatically
25:50advance while the bottom two will go head to head in a sudden death cook-off for the final spot
25:57we
25:58thought whoever had the lowest scoring dish was going to go home but I guess we were wrong now there's
26:01a sudden death I was a long cook and to have to jump back in there and go head to
26:07head would not be fun
26:08shall we see who's in first
26:19Matt in first place with 105 points out of a possible 120 to lock in your spot in the finals
26:28congratulations thank you it's amazing after last week I thought I was going home to know that like
26:36I am now in the finals I can like kind of breathe and sleep easy tonight I'm one step closer
26:41to a
26:42million dollars that means Kara Buddha and Chris one of you will join Matt in the final three and
26:49will be one step closer to winning one million dollars let's see the scores
27:02Kara second place congratulations you will be joining Matt in the finals it's a moment of relief
27:11it's a moment of happiness it's a moment of joy I've made it to the finale I don't have to
27:15cook again
27:15like all things are good it's always sucks being in the bottom at least it wasn't the bottom score
27:22goes home because I'd definitely be going home Chris and Buddha you have the lowest scores so you'll be
27:29cooking in the head-to-head cook-off how are you feeling about it I mean I'm disappointed given the
27:35advantage I had but it came to cook so what's one more time after this gauntlet you know Buddha to
27:42have
27:42one more shot and to go head-to-head I mean that's fair for me well Buddha and Chris it's
27:47do or die and
27:48it's your last chance to earn a spot in the finals of America's culinary cup and for one of you
27:56this
27:58will be your last and final challenge in your head-to-head cook-off you need to use two taste
28:06profiles and
28:07feature them on one dish one of your tastes will be umami the taste profile that no one had and
28:14the
28:14other will be your choice and of course the dish must be perfectly executed and perfectly balanced
28:21so choose wisely because there's only one spot remaining all right chefs take your stations good
28:28luck to both of you I'm not happy that I have to go head-to-head with Buddha he intimidates
28:34me he's
28:34insanely technical his food's beautiful so is he the number one person I want to go against absolutely
28:39not but hopefully I give him hell 75 minutes to taste profiles one dish your time starts now
28:53this could be quite the battle yeah a hundred percent I still can't believe I'm here
29:02I'm very thankful for one last shot I've another chance to get into the finale this is the most
29:07important dish that I cooked in the whole competition because it really determines whether or not I can
29:11cook for that million dollars how would you describe umami to me it's defined as mouth-filling
29:18deliciousness it's more than just a taste it's also a feeling it's that center bite on the cheeseburger
29:23you can't stop you want to go right back and it makes your mouth water once you've eaten a bite
29:28of
29:28something that's packed with your mommy you just want to take another one to me it's really that
29:32savoriness that richness of flavor that is more satisfying to the palate I'm doing simple delicious
29:40today and hope it pays off all I got to do is cook a good dish and if I go
29:44home because Buddha beats me
29:46at least I know I went out with a dish I can be proud of so I'm going all in
29:50on this one Chris what's
29:51your other flavor profile uh sweet sweet yeah doing scallops XO brown butter celery root puree and
29:59then like sweet glaze pia pini mushrooms other umami bangers folded into all that the sweetness plays
30:05off of umami really well chef are you breaking out the liquid nitrogen I might just do it just for
30:10giggles my first head-to-head elimination Chris has danced on the bottom a lot sometimes he gets in his
30:17own
30:17head I guess he puts a lot of things on the plate but I know he's a strong competitor I
30:21just need to
30:22do the things that I've been doing since day one I'll cook them just toasting my seaweed umami is
30:27always paired with salt so I'm going to be doing umami and salty are you going to cook the fish
30:33after
30:33it's gonna be several my taste profile they're gonna be salty and umami I'm gonna do a kombu cured
30:40hamachi with cauliflower cream and a champagne sauce with caviar kombu is the king of umami it's
30:48literally what MSG comes from yeah it's very smart it's got a clear kind of definition of umami as you
30:53get yeah 45 minutes their dishes are surprisingly not that far away from each other no we're doing
31:03different highlights fish white puree umami one sweet one's gonna be salty
31:13it is kind of eerily similar
31:16I'm taking less risks on this one I've never been in a situation in my life where I'm cooking and
31:21I have
31:21to self-edit as much as I do here I keep getting the same comment about putting too much of
31:27everything
31:27on the plate and it's hard to self-edit but with a million dollars on the line I'm gonna try
31:31to tighten
31:32up and just focus on three components beautiful puree well-executed scallops and roasted mushrooms
31:39if I go home on this and so be it but I don't want to go home today
31:45smells good now that my fish is in the fridge I'm gonna work the base of my sauce it's possibly
31:51my last challenge I'm definitely gonna be going out with a bag shots fired Chris
31:56I wanted to pull out the prosecco the caviar the gold leaf to make this beautiful sauce last time
32:03I competed I didn't have two beautiful daughters but now I do and all I can do is think about
32:07them
32:08I've been missing them a lot and I'm doing this for my family just so we can live more comfortably
32:14and I
32:15could spend more time with them
32:2110 minutes left Chris how you doing are you making a million dollar dish that's up for debate I guess
32:28right going with flavors I know I'm not trying to shoot the moon on this one going simple exo sauce
32:33all day to bring it home hopefully it pays off exo sauce is the umami bomb of the dish it's
32:40made
32:40from dried shrimp scallops garlic onion chilies often dried pork product and then I'm adding fish
32:48sauce lemon juice some sweet soy as well and a little bit of miso and I'm going to use that
32:53to
32:53dress the scallops really hammering home that sweet and umami combination should you give this a face
33:00I'm a hard man to beat what I'm motivated I'm doing this for my mom I'm doing this for my
33:04family um and
33:05I have two little girls to look out for so I'd like to do something nice for my wife and
33:10then
33:10pay for schooling without worry and give my daughters the opportunities I had growing up
33:16that's what I wanted two minutes
33:21time is winding down I'm going to just it up with a little bit of gold leaf
33:26why not if it's my last time here let's go out with a bag so the plating is almost done
33:31the last
33:32thing that I'm doing is pouring my sauce the sauce tastes great but I do feel like it is reading
33:39a
33:40little bit too salty umami so I'm going to turn it down just a little bit so I'm adding a
33:45couple
33:45more cubes of cold butter trying to get all the balancing right I'm still adjusting the flavors
33:50this is going to be really really down to the wire cooking for my place to win a million dollars
33:55right
33:55now I need to make sure that everything is perfect because everything runs on this dish
33:59I'm still not happy with that sauce I'm trying to make sure that I get all my plating perfect
34:08three two one time's up
34:13it's going to be a long deliberation
34:18we're all very proud of ourselves for making it this far because
34:21this cooking competition it's metal warfare thank you thank you it would really suck to go home at
34:27this point great job man bottom four bottom four Chris can you tell us what taste profile you picked
34:36to pair with umami I chose sweet again look at me so I have for you roasted scallops with exo
34:43brown
34:43butter miso celery root puree there's also some roasted piopinis glazed in a little bit of reduced
34:49pickling liquid and I also pickled some celery root for a little crunch and texture this is such a
34:54well composed focused dish scallops are cooked beautifully the puree is luscious and creamy I do
35:02think you hit the sweet element and the umami element beautifully scallops are well prepared I like the
35:10mushrooms on the side maybe a little sweet but very impressed thank you chef Chris what I like about
35:16your dishes that the scallop comes through very very clearly and of course you use the xo to great
35:22effect and that gave you the umami in this dish the celery root itself the pickled bits they have a
35:27little bit of a weird chew to them but they do bring a lot to the dish and they do
35:30deliver on flavor thank
35:32you budo tell us what you made and what profile you chose to pair with umami so I did hamachi
35:40with
35:40caviar cauliflower cream and a white soy butter sauce some pickled turnips on there it is salty
35:46and umami very pretty thank you this dish shows some of your best work the kombujime technique that
35:54you used to bring more umami to the fish definitely paid off the addition of the caviar kind of helped
36:00drive home both the umami and the salt if I had one negative thing to say about it this sauce
36:06is just pure
36:07umami it's a real umami bomb it comes up tasting almost a little cheesy because of the dairy that
36:12you put in there I actually liked the cheesiness but I think of cheese as being very rich in umami
36:18the cauliflower was delicious I think you could have given us a little bit more of that
36:22but this is just fantastic stuff really good thank you Buddha I really loved your sauce it was an umami
36:30bomb in the best way but a couple of drops of lemon or something in the sauce would have given
36:37you a more
36:38uniform counterpoint to that umami it's very hard to decide who had the better dish here
36:50but ultimately only one of you can go to the finals
36:55while both dishes were extraordinary and delicious there was one plate I felt demonstrated the two
37:04taste profiles a little bit better than the other and that plate was chris's
37:25it was unanimous today it was chris thank you very much sorry bro that's so good amazing getting
37:33to cook with you yeah absolutely congratulations chris thank you very much I'm so sorry you've served your
37:40final dish well thank you so much for everything of course I'm super bummed out like I want to make
37:47it all the way to the finale at least good day everyone I almost wish you had just given me
37:53this
37:54because this was fantastic okay I'll just take this away
37:59Buddha congratulations you are the winner talking about I haven't felt like this defeat ever but at the
38:07same time I'm accepting it this is the best dish I've seen from you in this competition
38:12because I'm a risk taker I'm always going to try and push myself further he's an overachiever
38:18Buddha you were one point away from a perfect score someone want to talk about it at 1.1
38:28great stuff man thank you fantastic really good you're incredibly talented I love competitions I'll
38:34probably say I dare say maybe this might be my last thank you you win some you lose some can't
38:43always win
38:49everything
38:50this congratulations thank you oh my god thank you what a journey you've had yeah good cry right now
38:58I've been worried about specifically going against Matt and Buddha and to win against
39:03Buddha in a head-to-head gives me a lot of confidence going into the finals cook from your heart
39:08trust your
39:09instincts and a million dollars could be yours
39:20congratulations thank you I am shocked to see Buddha go home another strong competitor is now off the
39:27table but also these other two chefs are performing really well and performing better than the one that
39:34you perceived as being the best on to the next one I guess still in it I'm still in it
39:38voted most likely
39:40to leave and I'm still here I was voted least likely to win the competition and now I'm headed to
39:45the
39:45final so I now have a 33 chance of winning a million dollars they said that he and I put
39:51up two stunning
39:52dishes yeah they were like it was splitting hairs I mean they sent him home because he needed a couple
39:56more
39:56drops of lemon juice literally that was it congratulations well done chefs it still feels
40:08surreal that I'm here that I've made it this far the validation of being able to compete at this level
40:13is huge and I'm here to play the game if you think this competition has been tough so far you
40:19ain't seen
40:19nothing yet I'd like to end by saying no pressure but we all know that would be a lie see
40:28you later come on boys
40:35I'd be worried if I were them I'd be worried
40:42congratulations
40:43I want to win and hopefully take the million dollars home
40:47I want to admit it sound like there's going to be a little twist to it
40:50yeah they did this is wild like my emotions are I'm like on tilt I've cried so many times and
40:57I
40:57don't cry like I'm not really I'm a crier kind of more than most men probably but I don't like
41:02I
41:02can tell you how many times I cried in the last year and you know it's not like um
41:09all right final three
41:10final three
41:12final three I mean it's unbelievable to still be here I just knew I needed to give it my best
41:17and uh I did that I'm just happy to be in the finale
41:22stay tuned for welcome to the finals of America's culinary cup you'll be serving us along with
41:29Eric repair Suzanne Gowen and Daniela Soto Enos no pressure
41:37wasn't expecting this nope I know I can really excel at this but the best chef when I've never
41:42done this before if this goes wrong I'm probably going home if I were Chris I'd be worried about
41:46that pressure cooker very worried I did not think it was going to be this close my heart's pounding
41:51out of my chest the winner of America's culinary cup and one million dollars is
42:03they started out as neighbors then became family I'm gonna make a t-shirt that says Calvin is my
42:08best friend this Monday their story comes to a close I'm gonna miss you man I love you too
42:13I did not say that the neighborhood series finale CBS Monday 8 7 central
42:18Queen Latifah hosts the American Music Awards live CBS Memorial Day Monday
42:23Queen Latifah
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