Top Chef – Recap & Review – Culinary Games

photo: bravo

Top Chef
Culinary Games

Original Air Date: Feb 15, 2012

Ryan O – Two Cents Senior Reviewer
ryano@thetwocentscorp.com

Remember how a couple of episodes ago, it was really gimmicky with the chefs riding bikes around San Antonio? Well, this is worse. Seriously. Just when you want the show to let them cook, they introduce more gimmicks.

What do we have on this episode that tops riding on bikes and cooking in strange kitchens? There’s cooking in gondolas. There’s ingredients frozen in blocks of ice. There’s cross-country skiing. There’s shooting at targets. Yes, there’s biathlon.

We open with a solo-view of Sarah. She says she’s different than the Sarah in San Antonio. Her goal is be calm and to be a nice person. Oh, did someone get to watch themselves on TV a little bit before heading to the finale? Hmm?

They head to the top of the mountain at Whistler, which you may remember as the site of many 2010 Winter Olympic events. They have to take a gondola to the top of the ski area. It’s snowy, cold, and windy.

They meet Tom and Padma. Padma tells them there will be three events and the winner of each event will win $10,000.

First up, creating a dish on a moving gondola. Sure, why not?

They have 22 minutes to cook.

Paul is a bit nervous and nauseous. Sarah freaks out a bit. Beverly decides to make a cold dish. Lindsay points out that balance and attitude are presenting a challenge.

When they get across, they have to get out, get a new ingredient, get back in and use the new ingredient.

Sarah: “It is like very nauseous in here.” “It’s difficult to gauge time in the gondola because there’s no clock,” as we’re shown a shot of where we can see her watch. It’s funny because she’s stupid.

Here’s what they made (and what they picked up).

Paul (wasabi): Seared lamb loin with curried mushroom and wasabi creme fraiche.
Sarah (prune juice): Chorizo sausage with onions, prune juice, gooseberries, and pickled mushrooms (pickling!)
Beverly (horseradish): Salmon tartare, anchovy horseradish creme fraiche and crispy capers
Lindsay (horseradish): Seared salmon, red quinoa “risotto” with chorizo and horseradish vinaigrette

Tom thought Paul’s flavors were good but the meat was underseasoned but a nice job all in all. Gail thought the meat unevenly cooked but she loved the seasoning on the mushrooms.

Tom didn’t taste enough of the prune juice in Sarah’s dish but he thought it was a nice dish. Padma liked the acid that the gooseberries added, which she thought was the key to the dish.

Tom thought Beverly flavors were great and the horseradish really made the dish. Gail thought the knife work was really great, especially considering Beverly was on a gondola.

Tom says that Lindsay’s salmon is perfectly cooked. He also really liked the combination of flavors.

Padma tells them the winner gets $10,000 and also goes to the final.

Paul was last. Sarah was third. Lindsay wins. She doesn’t have to cook in the next rounds.

Sarah: “Beverly is that silent horse.” You know, that silent horse. You don’t? Me neither.

Next day. They meet Padma, Tom, Gail, and Jon Montgomery, who won a gold medal in skeleton, which is like luge but headfirst and on your stomach.

Oh, their ingredients are all frozen in blocks of ice. They have one hour to thaw their ingredients and cook them.

Sarah: “If Paul wins, then it would be Beverly and I.” No, it would be “Beverly and me.” Nice try, though. Also: Duh, who else would it be?

Not surprisingly, Paul gets through a block first and starts cooking crab legs. Beverly eventually gets some scallops and peas. Paul is helping both of the women with getting the food out of the ice.

Here’s what they made.

Sarah: Pea and spinach soup with tumeric, almonds, and king crab
Tom liked the flavor of Sarah’s soup. Gail thought the almonds seemed heavy since the consistency of the soup was so thin.

Paul: Poached king crab, toasted almonds, mango chutney with orange marmalade
Gail thought the mango and crab combination was “really beautiful.” She did think the mango was a little bit frozen. Jon thought the crab and almond combination was exceptional.

Beverly: Seared scallop with red wine reduction, buttered peas, corn, and couscous
Gail thought Beverly did a good job getting a nice sear on the scallop, which helped give it a lot of flavor. She did think the sauce a little heavy and off-balance. Padma says that she got the couscous just right.

Paul wins. He gets $10,000 and is headed to the final.

Last event. Beverly vs. Sarah. They’re out on the biathlon range. Biathlon is the winter sport that combines cross-country skiing with shooting a rifle (as in you ski around with your rifle, stop, shoot, and ski some more). The two cheftestants will have to cross-country ski out and back (Padma doesn’t say how far they have to go but it can’t be that far) and then they will shoot at targets with ingredients written on them (they don’t have to ski with guns, thank goodness). Once an ingredient’s target is hit, it’s out of play and the other chef can’t get it. They will have 10 bullets. (Which makes me wonder what would happen if one of them missed with all 10 bullets.)

They get their skis on and start skiing. Beverly gets a big lead on Sarah. Then we’re treated to a montage of the two of them falling. Oh show. What does any of this have to do with cooking?

Beverly gets back to the range first. She hits Arctic char with his first shot. She misses her next two shots and then the next two after that. Then, she hits celery root.

Sarah, after saying her whole family has guns and she might have a slight advantage, misses her first two shots at rabbit.

Beverly misses her first shot at truffles but hits on the next one.

Sarah hits rabbit on her fifth shot. She gets cabbage with her next shot. Beverly gets fennel with her next shot. On her next to last shot, Sarah gets hazelnuts. Beverly gets beets with her last shot (Beverly hit on 50% of her shots). Sarah hits cherries with her last shot (she hit on four of 10 shots).

So, Beverly has Arctic char, celery root, truffles, fennel, and beets. Sarah has rabbit, cabbage, hazelnuts, and cherries.

They hustle straight into the kitchen. They seem to have an hour to cook.

Here’s what they made.

Beverly: Arctic char, onion and beet compote, celery root truffle puree and fennel salad
Sarah: Braised rabbit leg and heart with cherries, hazelnuts, and sauerkraut puree

Tom really liked Beverly’s dish. The flavors all worked but he says she might overcooked it slightly. Gail liked the flavor combinations.

Tom said that Sarah took a lot of risk — braising the leg in such a short time and making a sauerkraut in such a short time. He says that everything worked nicely. Gail says the rabbit was a little tough.

Sarah and Beverly go back to the kitchen so the judges can talk about them.

Tom says he liked how Sarah used her ingredients. Padma says you really tasted all of the flavors. Gail says she didn’t like how she braised the rabbit and that it turned out tough.

Gail liked that Beverly chose to make seafood paired with very earthy flavors like celery root and beets. Tom says the char wasn’t seasoned enough.

The chefs return.

Beverly is told to pack her knives and go.

As Beverly is leaving, Sarah enters and they hug. Sarah holds Beverly’s head in her hands and tells her that she’s amazing. Yeesh. It’s both condescending and something that Sarah didn’t earn the right to do.

Beverly came in second in all three of those events. Blurg. What a cruddy way to get eliminated.

What did you find to be tasty in this episode? Did you think anything was overdone? Give us your Two Cents below!