The Taste (2013) s01e06 Episode Script

Last week It was unanimous.
The raw chicken sealed your fate.
It has been my pleasure and my honor to have you in my kitchen.
Tonight, cooks face their toughest challenge yet.
Off-cuts.
Guts.
Brains.
Eyeballs.
Ears.
I love that kind of (bleep).
It's gonna get messy.
Here we go! He's playing with my balls! Oh, my word.
Aah! For the first time, three cooks will be sent home.
At this stage, "good" may not be good enough.
Too little, too late.
Only the best will survive.
You want to win, yes or no? So now you've got to (bleep) listen to me in the kitchen and do what I say.
- Oh, yeah! - There they are! Superstars! Welcome, everybody.
Top ten on The Taste.
You've beaten out thousands of America's best cooks to get here.
Congratulations.
Today, we're taking a step into what for some of you may be unfamiliar territory.
We're talking off-cuts Guts and those details.
Today's guest chefs Fred Morin and Dave McMillan.
- Oh, ho ho! Yeah, buddy! - Oh, yeah! Awesome! Oh, my God.
Nice.
Nice! Nose-to-tail eating, or cooking the whole animal as a whole beast, is a testament to any chef's skill set.
Offal So you're talking trotters, ears, eyeballs, balls The yummy parts.
You must each create a spoon for Dave and Fred featuring at least 1 of 4 secret off-cut ingredients individually selected by the four of us for our kitchens.
All of you must prepare one spoon, but only one spoon from the team will be tasted blind by Fred and Dave.
The person who wins immunity on this one, that person cannot even be considered for the bottom four.
Tonight, three of you will be sent home.
Now the team that produces Fred and Dave's favorite spoon will get their help in the kitchen for the solo taste test.
So, gentlemen, we'll see you at the tasting, if you don't mind.
This is a tough task.
So today, you have two hours to cook.
- Right here, guys.
- Come on, guys.
Okay, then.
Come on.
- All right.
- All the good stuff.
So here, you've got some ham, or some pork hock, - which I thought would be really good.
- Okay.
Some sweetbreads - And an ear.
- An ear.
Do you know what those are? - Um no.
- You don't want to guess, do you? - Um - Testicles.
Okay.
Oh! It's only funny because of who I am.
I'm the most innocent one of these people.
I got us some yellowtail or hamachi collar, right? I have some sweetbreads.
We got some tongue.
We got some pork tongue.
And then we have lamb belly.
You're, like, going, "Malarkey, you did an awful job of picking my stuff right here.
" - No, I like it, dude.
I like it, man.
- Make a stock out of something.
I really hoped that he would have picked something far beyond phrasing.
Pig brain, lamb testicles, you know? Top ten.
We're not stopping.
Next goal is top seven, all right? I know Fred and Dave really, really well.
They're a pretty terrifying bunch.
They both have a threshold for food, like, hair-trigger.
Sweetbreads which is the thalamus gland, right? Mmm.
Yum, yum.
So these guys, you know? Joe beef.
They are very French.
Don't use Asian food Asian stuff in your food.
I don't want to see any Asian style.
I want very classic French.
All right, all right! We're putting two hours on the clock! Everybody ready! Here we go! - Oh! - Okay, come on.
Go, go, go, go.
Cooking with offal somewhat disgusts me.
I'm going to use tripe with a fresh pomodoro sauce.
But I don't like that stuff.
Ugh.
What is the plan here? Uh, I'm using pork belly, pig's tail, and collard greens.
You're gonna cut it after cooking? I should cut it before cooking? Give it a shot.
I'll hold in place.
All right.
Yeah, after this, you'll be working for the mob.
Oh! The three ingredients I'm using today Tripe, pig's tail, and beef tongue.
You are making traditional thai tom yam soup And, you know, that's gonna fit beautifully into a spoon - and be - We're gonna try it.
Okay.
Immunity is so important this time.
You can't be in the bottom four.
And elimination could be on the horizon for me.
Um, do you have a a medic? Is that you or somebody else? You're teasing me.
Oh, you're so mean! You have medic, guys? No way.
Is that a real wound? Ah! It would've been funnier in the crotch area.
Okay, so we've got your testicles here.
So I end up deciding to work with the bull's testicles because it's a bull's testicle, and I just gotta know what it tastes like.
It doesn't have to be meat 'cause also they're gonna be chopped up and fried.
Okay.
It kinda just rips off.
- What? - I don't even really need a knife.
We are officially ball-breakers here.
I don't wish to make you cross your legs, - but I'm chopping this up.
- I don't really like - I'm chopping this, Ludo.
- I don't like that thing.
- If I could have a quick - No.
I don't like that.
Ohh! He's playing with my balls! I'd read rumors on the Internet, but I refused to believe them.
Oh, they're big.
They're bigger than mine.
No one's are bigger than yours.
Lauren, s'il te plait.
I don't mind your spit, so have a bite and then hand it over.
Yeah, you're right.
It's good.
Who knew a bull's testicle tasted so good? Don't go to the abstract abstract just to try to impress us, 'cause it looks better on a menu but it doesn't taste so great on your palate.
I'm feeling pretty confident because I'm Filipino.
We use all the cheap cuts of meats Brains, eyeballs, ears.
We'll make something bomb and put that in a stew over rice.
- I see the - The lamb belly.
I'm like, okay.
Braised lamb belly, poutine This is a winner.
And then a little bit of the pickled patron.
Or, uh, sushido.
Nice work.
Nice work.
I don't think Adam really favors offals, so he grabbed, like, the easiest thing, which is pork belly.
Pork belly is really not offals.
All right, talk to me, goose.
What's the plan here? - All right, so, uh, I had to make, like, minced - Forty minutes.
Blood sausage, lamb belly, pork belly.
Take two separate things, just in case.
Okay, okay.
- Hey, Gregg! How you doing? - You in the game today? Yes, chef.
You were almost home last time, man.
That close! Malarkey is very loud in the kitchen.
When I'm working with food, I just really wanna give the food the respect and the your coworkers the respect they deserve.
I wouldn't even listen to Ludo.
I think you got what it takes, man.
You've got it all.
You don't need any help.
- You wanna hold it? - Want me to hold it for you? Hold on.
I'm gonna make a pulled pig's head simmered in a fragrant broth, and pull all the meat off of the face.
Aah! Aah! Aah! - So pig's blood? Yes? Okay.
- Mm-hmm.
- Oh! - Ooh! I'm going to cook a blood pudding with mashed potatoes.
Smell that.
So I really showed Sarah step-by-step.
You know, that's my job as a chef.
I think Sarah does have an advantage, being a very pretty girl, and the French chef loves this.
The pudding is okay? Sarah I know it.
I like it.
I had a whole laundry list of things going through my head and what to do, um, but Ludo wants to go with beef bourguignon.
- Need more wine.
Need more wine here.
- I'm reducing the wine.
I need No, don't reduce the wine.
Put here.
- Put the whole thing in.
- It's the whole bottle.
I know.
Put more wine! There's only two answers to give to a chef.
One is "Yes, chef," and the other one is "Yes, chef.
" Mr.
Paul! Paul, we put some wine.
Offer me a bottle of wine, Paul.
I don't need somebody's approval to tell me that my sauce tastes good.
I'm a chef.
Aah! Al dente.
More confit.
More.
- More? - Yeah, more.
You said you want it al dente.
That's not al dente? Okay, can you stop always answering me back? I'm not You know what? Do whatever you want.
- Do whatever you want.
It's fine.
- I'm asking you a question, chef.
You know what? Do your (bleep) dish yourself, okay? I don't want to deal with that.
Paul He needs to think more and listen to me or he's never going to win.
Paul is gonna be on the bottom soon.
I know that.
- Ludo? - Call me (bleep) chef, not Ludo, Paul! You call me chef, chef! I'm a (bleep) chef, too.
- I called, chef.
You didn't answer.
- (Bleep).
Yes, chef.
Yes, chef.
Yes, chef.
Put some everything.
- After you close it, then we cook.
Okay? - Yes, chef.
Fifteen minutes, guys.
Fifteen minutes.
Now I need the pressure cooker, and we're not getting along very well.
It doesn't want to cook in time, so I need to lock it in very tight and crank up the heat and increase the pressure.
Aah! Oh! Are you okay? Oh, my God.
You all right? Oh! Oh, my God.
Are you okay? That's what we call a (bleep) Baghdad! We got an explosion here! - My face is burning.
- My hands are burning.
I'm little bit scared because something has just exploded in my face.
But you know what? It was time to get back to work.
We're less than five minutes! - Okay, quickly! - Wah! Here, chef.
I don't taste enough wine.
Come on! You gotta be kidding me.
Do not serve wine.
Too Italian.
So it's just between Gregg's dish and my dish.
Oh! You You don't like it.
I feel like one of yours should go up.
Got the soup in there, tom yam soup.
Let's go with you.
Okay.
I'll spoon it up.
I believe that my dish was the best.
I would love to learn from these guys.
Uno's got those flavors dead-on.
I mean, that is just gorgeous.
If I have this immunity, this means that there is not even, like, a chance that I can be in the bottom.
Taste this and decide whether we think it'd be Oh, my God.
That looks so delicious.
We both decided that we'd start with the stew on the spoon and then we'd incorporate the smoked ham hock meat on top, and then we would top that off with a fried piece of testicle.
We're going a bit big here, you know? I like the mustard.
You know? - It's too much.
- Too much mustard? - Too much mustard? - I don't even taste the protein.
What is it? Khristianne is a silent assassin.
I really liked my dish today.
I like the pickle.
Potatoes are perfect.
You know, I feel that my dish could win.
Well, one minute! I'm going with Khristianne.
Tongue, sweetbread, and bone marrow.
It's gonna win.
It's gonna help us all.
You wanna taste this one? - Put your spoon.
- Yes, chef.
- Quick! Quick! - This is the third time that Gregg is being selected to represent us.
They're going with Gregg's! I can't believe it.
- Oh, my.
- If they went with the blood thing, it would've been a winner.
So these are for tastin'? Psych.
- Oh, no! Stop! Stop! - You got it, chef.
Ten seconds.
Nine.
- That's time! - Stop! Ooh, time.
- You did a great job.
- Thank you.
Trust me, nobody beats me on that.
Nobody.
I'm the best.
Tom yam was a gamble, but I think we're a gambling team.
This is by far the toughest challenge.
This is gonna tell us who is really, really ready to go all the way.
Lauren really knows how to pack food with flavor, and I think this could win.
- Let's taste.
- All right.
Oh, man.
It's easier for us than it was for you guys.
I don't think anybody did, you know, a riff on pulled pork like that up there.
I tasted it and I was like, wow.
- Quite delicious.
- What do you think it is? Um, I'm tasting something that makes me want a little bit more.
Yep.
I'm really happy with my spoon.
I think it's got a big shot.
- It's good.
- Yep.
Super well-seasoned.
- Oily a little bit.
- A bit oily.
This is a huge immunity just because you can't be put into the bottom four and you're not going home.
I actually have, uh, no idea What we're eating here.
That's You see, that's sharp and delicious.
- Some fat.
Some ear.
- Yeah.
I like that.
- Yeah.
- Brilliant.
Gregg has won two team challenges in a row, and if he wins another immunity, I'm gonna be pissed.
My dish is the best, and I know that they're gonna pick it.
It's really good but it does taste like spiked tobacco.
Spiked tobacco.
But I love that.
The crispy little meat thin is delicious.
I think the one we chose is because - it's crispy, it's fatty - Yeah.
It's light.
The acidity is good.
Team Ludo.
Ludo! Team Ludo is winning again and again and again.
Are you (bleep) kidding me? Whoo-hoo! You know, it's just the greatest feeling in the world to be able to communicate to great culinary minds like that.
I'm not surprised that they enjoyed it.
Whoo! Whoo! Ludo! Whoo! It's a huge, huge bonus to have these mentors in the kitchen for the solo challenge.
Fred and Dave, you've been a personal disappointment to me, - I have to say, but - Ohh! Uh, please go join Ludo's winning team.
Thank you, chef.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you, chef.
Thank you, chef.
I feel great.
I'm automatically into the semifinals.
We can't even consider you for the bottom four, however much we might like to.
- We cannot.
- Not that we're bitter.
- We're bitter.
We're bitter.
- Bitter.
We're really bitter.
For today's solo taste test, you must create a spoon featuring a key off-cut ingredient.
You've got two hours, and the aim is to delight us and not disgust us.
Time starts now.
- Get 'em! Let's go! - Let's go! Let's go! Man, it smells like a fish market up in this place.
Gregg again.
Three weeks in a row now.
When I work with him, he has some good ideas, but I need to manage him.
- So I'm gonna cook a pho.
- Yeah.
- Do a pho broth.
- So I look over and I see Gregg with a slew of Asian ingredients on his station, and I just think back to Ludo being like Don't use Asian foods.
I want very classic French.
Even with a thick French accent, "Don't do Asian" was very clear.
I have a very, very hard time to manage Paul.
He's messy and he don't listen.
I'm gonna make sweetbreads today.
I'm gonna make an oxtail broth to go with them, a celery root and artichoke puree to go underneath it, and, um, a purple potato.
I'm worried about that blue potato thing.
You know why? Because it's like you're You're creating a double starch.
It's like serving risotto with pasta.
You get what I'm saying? - Yeah.
- It just doesn't make sense.
I'm sticking to my guns on this one.
I'm not gonna let them talk me out of using this potato.
It's outside the rules of normality.
With Jeff and Khristianne always hitting the top, I I'm very confident in them.
Um, Adam has never made a bad dish.
I'm making a A Thai-style sweetbread Veal sweetbread With some, uh, pork rinds and a little ngoc cham salad.
Khristianne is clearly the cook who scares us the most.
I'm very familiar with offal.
Sweetbread with, uh, veal reduction, cauliflower puree, caper beurre blanc, and a crispy fried pig ear.
I had this (bleep) in my baby bottle.
The one I'm most worried about is Ninamarie, because she's grossed out.
I don't really like working with these offals, so I'm just doing a dish that I love but just changing the main protein.
So I'm gonna do, like, a A veal milanese but instead I'm using veal sweetbreads.
Uno just chugs along.
She's gonna look at the challenge "Yeah.
Okay, good," put her head down, and go.
I'm gonna make a shrimp soup dumplings.
Hoping that works 'cause usually the gelatin takes, like, eight hours to set up, so I'm gonna put it in the freezer.
I think the standard of cooking is higher than I would have anticipated.
And I'm worried about having only one person in my kitchen.
So I love Thai food.
I'm gonna attempt to make it in a couple hours and then see what it tastes like.
"Kathy Bates" Lauren.
I don't know why, but she's like my (bleep) nemesis, this one.
Is it possible to have too much flavor? And then she comes out like I hope I'm doing this right.
"Ooh, hee hee hee hee ho!" I'm making an ice bath.
I'm speaking with the mentors.
I'm really not paying attention.
I go in to cut, my knife rolls off at an angle.
And Aah! Gregg cuts his finger.
Slow it down, Gregg.
Slow it down, Gregg.
Deeper and slower, deeper and slower.
I know that pain.
Okay, Gregg, hold that hand out.
Uncross your legs.
It just gets worse and worse and worse.
It gets more and more and more every time your heart beats.
Gregg cut off part of his finger.
Really? Professional, really? Tonight's Hellmann's blue ribbon moment, where Lauren brings out the best in her dish.
How many star anise did you put in? - One.
- I think Come on, be brave.
- Be brave.
- Be bold.
- Three.
- We're going for it.
It's really, really tasty.
It is really magnificent, Lauren.
You are a very clever girl.
It hurts really, really, really bad.
Mm! But I know that I have to keep going.
All right, ladies.
Cheers.
Anthony's team doesn't look focused.
They're all sippin' wine and making cocktails.
We have champagne chilling.
It's a marathon.
There's no time to sip on wine right now.
Take a second before you start searing sweetbreads.
Put away Clean your station.
It's a bit messy.
It's weird.
So you'll be able to focus, honestly, really.
Paul, you know, is a great great guy, but it's so heavy when he cooks, and And I will not be surprised to see Paul in the bottom.
He doesn't want to listen to anything, eh? - No.
- He knows better than, uh, you do.
I do know what I'm doing in the kitchen.
Check it out.
It worked! Now I gotta put it together.
Please work! I decided to serve my pork cheeks with some sticky rice, but it's not really coming out the way I want it to.
It's just the texture of the rice.
If I make one tiny, tiny mistake, then the judges are gonna notice immediately.
Is it good enough? Can you taste the dressing? The dressing has pork skin in it.
I just tasted fried.
Three minutes, girls.
Uhh! Ooh! That's gonna be, uh, a bit limp by the time it reaches them, I believe.
I think it's tremendous.
I'm not 100% sure on the proportions on my spoon, but I know the flavor's there.
I'm confident I'm getting a gold star.
Yum.
I'm feeling pretty good about it.
- Congratulations.
Good luck.
- Thank you.
Good luck.
You guys did very well.
Good luck.
All right.
Smells good.
It's not about winning today, is it? It's about not losing, huh? Yes.
- End of the day - It's about not losing today.
To all of us, good luck.
Okay? We taste every spoon.
We have no idea who cooked it or what we are eating.
Each mentor must select which was our best taste It was a delicious dish.
And, more importantly, our worst taste to put in the bottom four.
Wow.
The competition is is steep.
Three people are going home tonight.
Nigella's kitchen is down to one individual, and that is me.
It's extremely frightening to be in the bottom.
Braised beef cheeks with turnip puree because I know it's safe.
- Is that ham hock? - It feels like cheek.
Cheek.
This is, um, peasant's food.
And I do like it when there's some reference to that in the cooking.
I thought the mashed potatoes were too large of a component.
- Turnip puree.
- I rather like the fact that it wasn't pureed.
It wasn't over-pureed.
It wasn't a restaurant mashed potato.
- It was home mashed potato.
- Really chunky, yeah.
Turnip puree.
What do you mean, a restaurant potato? What I mean is, it was more like peasant food, mashed, crushed.
Stop giving me that look.
It says "cheek and mash," and you've got a lot of cheek and mash.
The last thing Ludo told me was to listen to the guest mentors.
And since my dish was a collaboration, I hope to continue to be successful.
Whoa! Fish sauce! Lime! Too much lime.
- Oh, la.
- Softened the meat.
If there was some heat there, it would've been nice.
- Oxtail beef? - Taste like pho to me.
Yeah.
- It was big acid.
- Big acid right in the mouth.
The mentors have been very positive towards my food, and this dish could do that as well.
Veal milanese with sweetbreads, arugula salad with pork skin vinaigrette.
It's a fish of some sort that's lost its crunch, I'm afraid.
What?! - Sweetbread again? - (Bleep) Just a go-to? Or we think I don't know.
I just don't know.
I find those little tomatoes - Just annoying.
- Yeah.
Sour and bitter.
It kind of stinks to hear what the mentors have to say, especially because I thought it It wasn't bad.
Tony's a sucker for sweetbreads, and I bring in a little Asian flair, and I think it's, uh, I think it's gonna "wow" 'em.
What is it? What is underneath it? - It's very sweet.
- Yeah.
And it's got a bit of burn going on, too, hasn't it? My palate I don't know what I'm eating.
But in a way, though, that is the whole point about cooking these cuts of meat.
You taste it and wonder what that is rather than which part of the animal it was.
I have to say, I've been looking for a spoon where these unique parts are highlighted.
- Nothing.
- Their Their textures are highlighted - Yes.
- And the main event of the dish, rather than working against them, making them submit.
The pig ear is my family's favorite, so I had to do that to represent.
Cauliflower mousseline with sweetbreads poached in milk, with crispy pig ears.
Is that a bit of bit of pig's ear? Butter sauce, charred brussel.
Perfectly balanced.
I can't find fault with that dish.
Let's put it that way.
And it had oomph and delicacy.
Nigella is such a shocker.
I never would've expected it'd appeal to her palate, but, I mean, wow.
I was so proud of my dish today.
This is phenomenal.
Soup dumpling with pork and shrimp and a fried shrimp head.
Mmm.
Nice crunchy shrimp head, you know? I can't work out what's inside the dumpling.
I think it was a clean pork, possibly just a little belly, - a little something not not too big.
- Mm-hmm.
The shrimp head overpowers everything.
I like the dish.
Searing hot.
I love it.
Such a roller coaster ride of emotions.
I'm up.
I'm down.
I'm up.
I'm down.
I almost feel psychotic.
A lot of classical French food is built on this cuisine, so the mind set I'm going in is to make a galantine of rabbit and pork.
It should be fun.
Have we seen a tail? Have we seen a tongue? That is sweet.
Really sweet.
No.
- I had really high hopes for that.
- Mm-hmm.
- This dish is very technique.
- Yes, it is.
The texture on there is is great.
- I love it.
- I love it, too.
I haven't served a sweetbread in my restaurant in probably seven years.
I'm gonna make an oxtail broth to go with them.
It is sweetbreads? But it's tougher than sweetbreads.
- I mean, it's just - Huh? Not tough.
- Not tough, but it's not juicy.
- No, it had it had it had tooth It had a little tooth to it.
Somebody don't know how to cook sweetbreads.
How you cook sweetbread? - Me? - Yeah.
I just I either put them in a batter of Put them in a bit of seasoned flour, - and then - But before you do, you need to brush it.
- I blanch them a little bit.
- You need to brush or blanch it.
Yeah, after you cook it.
- I put them in water, bring it to a boil - Voila.
And then I take them out.
- Voila.
- Okay.
I'm doing a take on liver and onions today, using a technique that I feel comfortable with, so I think it'll work out.
- Mmm.
- Poached liver.
Liver? Not kidney? But it doesn't have the liver meatiness, does it? Yeah, the filet is more tough than that.
It's definitely a riff on the word "bacon.
" - A liver with something.
- Yeah.
- Liver, bacon, and onions.
- Yeah.
Never a bad thing.
I liked it.
This dish really remind me of my childhood.
- Yeah.
That's good.
- You know, I'm from Burgundy.
What a nice childhood.
Yeah, I like that.
Yeah.
I'm thrilled about the fact that I turned a bizarre piece of meat into something delicious.
Nigella, I'm not gonna let you down.
This is going to be my best spoon yet.
All right, this is the last one.
I can't taste the protein.
The protein was so hidden in everything else.
My mouth is so full of rice.
I just taste rice and soy sauce.
We've got to deliberate hard.
Thing are getting real serious now.
I mean, three people are going home at the end of the day, and I'm not gonna be one of those people.
I have no clue what they liked or hated.
- Like, I really have - Yeah.
Who got a good review? I don't know.
You know, really I was, you know, looking for a spoonful that showed a person who was gonna grab this challenge by the balls.
Literally.
- Literally.
- Yeah.
If I didn't have immunity, I'd be gone today.
I'm sorry, but Nigella has one person You, you, and you.
I feel a huge amount of pressure being the only one left on Nigella's team.
I cannot let Nigella down right now.
Let us begin the painful process of making sense of all this.
The seven of you cooked our best and worst dishes.
Of course, we still have no idea who cooked what.
- Oh, my goodness me.
- Not Not good for me.
My Lauren.
Gregg, uh, you won immunity during the, uh, - at the end of the team challenge.
- Yes, chef.
Al we know is we couldn't put you in the bottom four or even consider you for it.
Uh, we don't even know what you cooked.
Let's take a look.
Tell us a little bit about it.
Well, I just tried to take myself out of, uh, my comfort zone a little bit and experiment with some different flavors.
Well, I'm pissed off with you, man.
- You remember what I said to the team? - Yes, chef.
I don't want to see any Asian style.
I want very classic French.
- Why you don't listen to me? - The - You want to win, yes or no? - Yes, chef.
- You want to win, yes or no? - Yes, chef! So now you've got to (bleep) listen to me in the kitchen and do what I say.
I I worked my ass for you, man.
I sweat for you guys.
I want to teach you, so I want some respect from you guys.
- Yes, chef.
- 'Cause I really have enough.
All right, go home.
I'll see you in the kitchen.
I think it's a good time to remind you That you're immune, but also that I liked your broth.
Please step back in.
I just got reamed.
There was nothing really constructive about it.
Is that Is that Is that Is that mentoring? I feel like at this point in the competition, I'm on my own.
I don't think Ludo's gonna want to help me.
It just makes me feel like (bleep).
The six of you cooked our best and worst dishes, but we still have no idea who cooked what.
We know that three have got to go, and so I'm going to hit this and see who are my favorite and my least favorite.
Why you coming after my team? Why you coming after my team? - I had no idea.
- Aah! My turn.
I just want to see who's my best one, my worse one.
- And I pick Jeff again.
- Nice.
- Good job, man.
- Thanks, chef.
I can't handle the pressure.
I picked a top and a bottom, and they are Lauren and Khristianne.
All right.
Boom! Nice work.
Thank you.
Sorry, Lauren.
Let's see how it went.
Doubled down.
- My team.
- Wow.
Up-and-down Uno.
Interesting.
Uno and Ninamarie.
I hate to be in this spot.
Uno, you're the first person that's gotten a red and a gold star.
But that's how tight it is.
That's how great this competition's getting right now, is we're splittin' hairs.
Ninamarie, Adam, Lauren, Uno All bathed in red light, so you're all candidates to go home tonight.
Before we get to the unpleasantness, uh, why don't we take a look at our our favorite dishes? I gotta say how proud I am of you, Khristianne.
Can you walk us through this dish, please? It's, uh, poached sweetbread that I just poached in milk and herbs.
I stewed coagulated pig blood with, uh, veal bones, bone marrow, red wine.
You got the challenge.
Bravo.
- You took a big risk.
- Thank you.
Keep goin', girl! Aah! Thank you so much.
Jeff, again, I picked you.
Love it.
Great technique Uh, tell me exactly what you used here.
Chicken liver, heart, pork belly, pork shoulder, uh, more cognac.
And then the brussel sprouts are charred with, uh, some mustard.
You know, it would be impossible for an honest man to find fault - with this dish.
- It was awesome! Uno, tell us what's in it.
I thought this was a terrifically creative dish.
Um, what I did was take some cod head and shrimp shells and I made a stock out of it, and then put in gelatin to make a soup dumpling.
And then I did the shrimp head 'cause I figured it has eyes, it has the brains, it has the guts.
I enjoyed your dish, but there was some disagreement here.
So let's do this.
Let's send, uh, Khristianne and Jeff back in the hatches.
Uno, you'll have to stick around with, uh, the other red stars.
- Ah! - I knew it.
- They're intense today.
- What did you get? But you're the luckiest one.
What Your immunity saved you.
Pfft.
Get out of here.
You would've been down the hatch.
We have, uh, four red stars here.
Uno, Ninamarie, Adam, Lauren Before we make any decisions on who to save and who to send home, let's bring out our least favorite dishes.
Well, we know what, uh, what you served us.
Uno, I just was not, uh, real crazy about what was inside the dumpling.
- Yeah, I don't know.
- I mean, shrimp is not that exotic.
I don't know if it embraced the challenge.
It was just very, very safe.
So, Adam, will you tell me what you cooked? Yeah, I did, uh, I did a sweetbread, trying to throw some southeast Asian flavors in there, maybe get Anthony's attention a little bit.
Uh, the crackle was something new for me.
That was kind of my out-of-the-box.
I have to say, I feel crackling is really something that is not at all out there.
Texturally, this was a mushy spoon for me.
The little bit of crispiness, uh, that was there, uh, was too little, too late.
Ninamarie, I did not enjoy this dish.
Tell me about what you did here.
Um, I wanted to do a veal milanese, so I used sweetbreads.
I fried the milanese.
I did chicken liver and, uh, calf's liver.
It tasted sour.
There was a sourness.
Why you wanna do a veal milanese? Just do a milanese, a sweetbread milanese, and don't complicate too much.
Lauren, I didn't get this dish.
You gotta tell.
So I used pork cheeks.
Um, and obviously this is nowhere near my comfort zone.
And those are sweetbreads.
You put too much rice, and that's what threw us all.
- Yeah.
- I'll be honest with you.
Because we We tasted rice overwhelmingly.
Um I enjoy your food.
I think you're a good cook.
I wasn't crazy about this dish.
All right, three people going home.
Uno, Ninamarie, Adam, Lauren, back in the hatches.
We have a very unpleasant decision to make.
Okay, well That wasn't fun.
I wanna make a defense here, and, of course, it's because Lauren is in my kitchen.
I never really know what Lauren's gonna cook.
I feel she's got quite a bit more to give.
That's not nothing.
There is no defending that dish.
"The spoon had too much rice.
" And I'm like, I could kick myself for the amount of rice I put on that stupid spoon.
You know, Lauren already has a red star, and this is her second one.
I have three gold stars.
I just don't foresee me going home next.
- Ninamarie.
- Ninamarie I have a vested interest in speaking well of it.
I think the world of her.
And I think of her as a cook who, uh, who has again and again just pulled flavor combinations out of left field - Yeah, she had my favorite last time.
- And and successfully.
Adam's right there, which I would love to try to defend.
We had We all had problems with this.
We said it when we tasted, we didn't get the meat.
It was a genuinely unpleasant spoonful of food and it is not improved on the plate.
Again, I just didn't see eye to eye with the judges.
I feel Uno wimped out on this challenge.
I liked the dish.
I made it my favorite.
This did not make Uno up her game.
Her comfort zone is Thai and Laotian.
This is not a Thai or a Laotian dish.
Asia's a big place.
Not good enough.
I'm ready.
Whatever happens, I'm prepared.
- Bourdain gave you a star.
- You're not going anywhere.
- You know, we - We are not agreeing.
We're never gonna get a consensus.
Truth be told, putting my cards on the table, I fear Uno a lot more than I fear Lauren.
That is It seems grossly unfair.
I have a big problem, because I picked Tony, his favorite, and I think it's not fair she's here.
That's it.
- I don't know.
- I don't want to see you alone in your kitchen.
I don't need a I'm not asking for a pity vote for me.
Does it get worse than this? - Ugh! - End of the day, I, you know, I would go with the with the consensus.
I don't know that we're gonna get a consensus.
I don't think we are.
I got one gold star and one red star.
I could be saved, but at the same time, it's scary.
I do think I am, right now, one of the the best here.
I liked the dish, you know.
I know I'm not going home.
I should start preparing myself to pack my bags and go home.
The Taste is over for me.
Tonight, three of you will be sent home.
It got a little ugly up here at the judges' table today.
But there were a few spoons that we were, uh, unanimous on.
Adam I'm proud to have worked with you.
It was just, uh, misdirected taste at the wrong time.
- Thank you so much.
- I owe you prosciutto.
Absolutely.
Thank you.
- I hope it goes well.
- Thank you, Anthony.
Appreciate it.
Didn't really get to make my mark like I wanted to.
I felt good about my dish today.
Obviously, it wasn't a winner, but, you know, that's just kind of how it goes sometimes.
I feel like I got cut a little bit short.
We did have one more unanimous decision.
Ninamarie.
You've done a really great job.
Today, your dish fell flat for us.
I wish very much that you could've pulled one more combination out of left field tonight.
I'm afraid it just didn't happen.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
- It has been a joy, really.
I I know that I'm stronger than a good amount of the people here.
I'm not gonna say who the individuals are that shouldn't be here, and hopefully the chef mentors will be as ruthless as they were to me today.
And if they have any slip-ups, they'll be sent home, 'cause I really hope the right talented chefs are in the final.
This was a very, very contentious decision.
We did not agree.
Lauren, your dish was clunky.
Clearly not one of my favorites.
Uno, your dish was my favorite.
I loved it.
Lauren You addressed the challenge.
Uno, the point has been made here credibly that you really didn't tackle the challenge.
Of all the cooks in this competition Yours is the cooking I will miss the most.
I'm sorry to say good-bye to you.
Please ah.
Wait.
Whoa.
You gotta say good-bye.
Uno! It was so hard.
God, I could kick myself right now.
It didn't embrace the challenge, and so I'm open to the feedback, and I would have never thought in a million years that I'd be in a competition, making the food that I love, and I got to work with Anthony Bourdain.
And I'm ready to see my daughter Emma.
She's inspired me along the way.
I know that she's gonna be excited to see me.
I can't wait to hold her.
I mean, I know I made her proud.
Lauren, you have just slithered by today.
And we want to see you upping your game.
Yes, ma'am.
Nigella's a very resourceful woman, and I think her defense of Lauren has been skillfully executed.
After the nuclear apocalypse, if one person comes climbing out the rubble with a knife between her teeth, of the four of us, it's probably Nigella.
I feel like I've been rescued.
It's just crazy that I've made it this far.
Nice work! Next week are the semifinals.
Obviously, this process is getting harder.
If you wanna win, don't give anyone any excuse to find fault in your work.