Top Chef: Masters (2009) s03e08 Episode Script
Blinded Me With Science
Previously, on Top Chef Masters This scale's inaccurate.
Six of the most acclaimed chefs in America put their reputations on the line in one culinary clash of the titans.
- You better start plating.
- I'm going! Love was in the air, as the chefs were challenged to create a romantic meal worthy of a surprise proposal.
Will you marry me? If she says no, this is gonna be the most awkward moment in television history.
Naomi's winning porcini-braised chicken helped seal the deal.
It just felt soulful, and it felt really special.
But Celina's perplexing pretzel left a salty taste in everyone's mouth.
Celina's dish is me like junior high romance.
And sent her home.
Five chefs remain.
But only one can emerge victorious and win the grand prize of $100,000 for their charity, furnished by Kitchenaid, and be crowned as the winner of Top Chef Masters.
Top Chef Masters 3x08 Blinded Me With Science All of you have come far in this competition winning lots of money for your charities.
It feels great to be in the top five and to share this with Traci.
She's a dear friend, and we both have known that either one of us could leave at any time.
But I'm gonna give her a run for her money.
Only one of you will make it to the end and win $100,000 furnished by Kitchenaid.
We're standing in a kitchen which is packed full of cutting-edge equipment, anything a chef might need to pull off a culinary masterpiece.
For your quickfire, you'll not be using any of that equipment.
You'll be working with an appliance that millions of Americans use every day: The microwave.
Microwaves cook in a really strange style.
I think we had the first edition of the microwave oven back in 1976.
I had one friend who wasn't allowed over because his parents were scared of radiation.
[Chuckles.]
Your challenge is to use your microwave to make breakfast.
Our guest diners are two working women on the go.
They're always traveling, and they have to piece together meals often out of a microwave.
You have ten minutes to create your breakfast dish, but your microwave is your only source of heat, and your dish must be hot.
The chef with the winning dish scores $5,000 for their charity.
And your ten minutes starts now.
Can I get some bacon? I have a line of food which is microwavable, but I have never cooked eggs in a microwave.
I know if it had been any other protein I could have done something, so this is throwing me for a loop.
Who took all the chanterelle? I will give you some chanterelle.
Here.
I want to make something with eggs, 'cause I like savory breakfasts.
I grab some bacon, a couple shallots, and some baby spinach.
I don't own a microwave, and I don't have a microwave in my restaurant.
As a child, I grew up microwave-free, so I really just don't have the first idea about how to use one.
I suppose you just press the button.
Just like McDonald's.
Making this baked egg with bacon and spinach and tomatoes.
At home, Clementine, my youngest daughter, is relatively adept with microwave cooking.
Other than that, we just really don't ever use the microwave, so it's gonna be a little bit challenging.
I hear my eggs lightly exploding.
We'll see if we get any caramelization happening in the microwave.
I'm making an egg en cocotte.
I don't like egg whites very much, so I'm getting rid of the white altogether and just going with the yolk.
And I'm gonna gently heat that in water.
So it just kind of warms it, and it's not harshly cooking the egg.
I wonder how much time it takes to cook that.
The only thing I've used a microwave for is to reheat my tea.
I'm making a goat cheese and avocado sandwich, and I'm worried about the bread, because it really is a lot tougher than I expected.
And I don't know how to remedy that.
7 1/2 minutes left, guys.
As a kid I always liked to hang out in the kitchen because I liked to eat.
One of the first omelets I made for my family was a souffle omelet with bacon and mushrooms.
It was something that I was very proud of, and I decided that I'm gonna make that same dish.
Chefs, you have five minutes remaining.
Oh! The only problem I'm kinda having is the bacon.
I wanted it to be crispy, but I still think I have a nice thing going on.
I got the chanterelle, the shallot, and the egg yolk.
It's all in this little compact cute little egg.
The eggs are not cooking.
I just pour the eggs over the top of everything.
It looks like a mess.
It looks like a five-year-old made this.
I know that the eggs are not gonna cook evenly.
I whisk it and start it again.
Hopefully I'm able to finish it at the last minute.
27 seconds.
Ah.
Souffle, voila.
Chefs, time is up.
You must stop your microwaves.
My only disappointment is the actual cookery of the egg, but I don't think that anybody's gonna be pulling out the best egg they've ever cooked out of those microwaves.
- Ladies.
- Yes.
- Good morning.
- Good morning, hi.
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
- How's it going? - Good.
So, Francis, Angela, tell me, what's your favorite thing to eat in the morning? Oh, you know what, whatever I can piece together and get hot.
Today our guest diners are Francis and Angela.
They're two comedians that are better known as Frangela.
And do you know your way around a microwave? Oh, we are masters of microwaves.
Yeah, when you get off the stage at 1:00 or 2:00 a.
m.
, there's nothing open.
And also I have a problem with stoves.
The city of Los Angeles has requested that I no longer use my stove.
[Laughs.]
Let's dig in and try th first one.
This is a biscuit egg sandwich with bacon, chanterelles, and spinach.
That's good.
Yeah, that is good.
It's a classed-up, you know, biscuit sandwich.
Yes.
To me, the biscuit was just a little heavy.
It didn't taste like my grandma's biscuits.
It didn't? Wow, okay.
Oh, God.
I mean, come on.
How much pride can you actually have for knowing a ton about microwaves? The next chef has created a baked egg with chanterelles, tomato, spinach, and bacon.
I think it's really cool-looking.
I'm more of a fan of a runnier yolk, so I wish it was a little less cooked.
Microwave.
But I like mine a little bit more dry, so this is perfect for me.
The bacon is fantastic.
This is a warm goat's cheese and avocado sandwich with bacon vinaigrette and basil.
Let's have a little taste.
It's a little hard-- excuse me.
[Laughs.]
It's a little messy to eat.
This is a lovely midnight snack.
You come in from the bar.
I think breakfast is something that is so interpretive, and some people like traditional breakfasts and some don't.
So that's the way the cookie crumbles.
This is a chanterelle, bacon, and spinach omelet with grilled tomatoes.
I think I've had something pretty similar to this on an airplane once before.
Oh, come on, you.
But it tastes better than that.
It does have that look.
It's a [bleep.]
microwave.
What do you expect? The texture came out lovely.
Flavors are great.
And to do that in a microwave in five minutes, amazing.
I was totally surprised.
They loved my omelet, and that made me very happy.
So our last chef has created a dish called oeuf en cocotte with chanterelles and bacon and bananas with lime.
It's an interesting presentation, right? I think the presentation's amazing.
It reminds me of the Caribbean a little bit.
I can smell the tropical breeze.
If you're hot at all, you can take off your shirt.
We don't mind.
If that's the way you cook, we don't wanna stop you.
We don't want to interfere with how you do.
I gotta tip for you though, ladies.
Never cook bacon naked.
- Ah.
- Good note.
And never use a meat grinder naked too.
[Laughter.]
So what do you think of the oeuf en cocotte? There's not much to this.
It's not gonna fill you up at all.
Probably wasn't the right dish for this.
Maybe I went way too overarching here, and I should have just gone for a basic breakfast.
So do you think you've got an overall favorite? Both: Yes.
Okay, folks, let's go.
Let's go.
So, ladies, how was the experience? We couldn't believe that this was made in that little time in a microwave.
Yeah, and I'm a working mom, and I'm inspired to do more and better in my microwave.
The ladies had some favorites and some least favorites.
Let's start with the least favorites.
- The avocado sandwich.
- That was mine.
Everything on top of the sandwich was delicious, but I think in the microwave the bread got a little hard, so it was kind like eating a football a little bit.
What else? - The oeuf en cocotte.
- That was me.
- Love the name.
- Yes.
But not very filling.
It just didn't seem to work too well together, the bananas and the egg.
Although it was nice to dig.
Yes.
And it was a surprise.
It was a surprise to dig.
Maybe a little too artistic.
Fair enough.
So what about some of your favorites, ladies? One of your favorites was the omelet.
Who made the omelet? Floyd.
It was moist, it was delicious.
The flavors were fantastic.
Thank you.
Finally not on the bottom.
I'm excited because it might be my first quickfire win.
Another one we really liked was the baked egg.
Hugh.
The baked egg was beautiful.
It was inspired.
Thank you.
Ladies, you did have one absolute favorite, right? Our absolute favorite Was the baked egg.
Hugh.
Thank you.
Well done.
That's three quickfire wins.
My track record with the oddity quickfires seems to be pretty good, spanning bugs and senses and now microwaves.
So that's okay, I'll take them.
Congratulations, Hugh, that's $5,000 for your charity, Wholesome Wave, furnished by Lexus, which brings your total to $15,000.
That's awesome.
It'll be used for good work.
I can't believe that this is the eighth quickfire.
I haven't managed to win one.
I'm so embarrassed.
Is there plastic burning somewhere? Yeah, sure smells like burning plastic.
Cooking with beakers, and bunsen burners.
It's ludicrous.
Explode, explode, explode, explode, explode.
Recipes are a lot like formulas.
You combine elements, you add and subtract them.
You make them hot, you make them cold, and that creates a reaction.
You could look at it a bit like a scientific formula, and that's the theme of your next elimination challenge.
Please welcome your laboratory assistants.
Curtis brings out five people in lab coats.
So I'm a little nervous about what the challenge could be.
Here are five scientists standing behind five sets of ingredients.
Each represent a different scientific principle.
Carlin is a nanotechnologist.
What does the pizza dough represent? Elasticity.
Elastic molecules in pizza dough act like springs so when you deform them, they wanna bounce back.
Heidi is a chemist.
These liquids represent viscosity, which is liquid friction or resistance to motion.
Carolyn is an evolutionary biologist.
Citrus represents acidity.
Acids can change the chemistry of other foods, like with cabbage juice.
Augustine is a polymer physicist.
This vinaigrette represents emulsion, a mixture of incompatible liquids like oil and vinegar.
When shaken, it forms droplets of one in the other.
And Michael is an experimental physicist.
This beef represents the Maillard reaction.
When exposed to high heat, the sugars and protein present in the beef produces the browning of cooked meat.
Hugh, you won the quickfire, so you can select your principle first.
And then you'll choose another chef to select next.
I'll take emulsion.
Traci, let 'er rip.
I'll take acidity.
- Who's next, Traci? - Floyd.
I love science.
I used to be a biochemist.
So I am excited for this challenge.
Beef.
Which represents the Maillard reaction.
Mary Sue.
I'll take viscosity.
Which means, Naomi, you have elasticity.
Each of you has chosen a scientific concept.
You'll have to make a dish that not only illustrates the scientific principle but of course it has to taste good, which you'll demonstrate at our edible science fair for high school students tomorrow.
I'm not a science geek.
I went to a podunk nowhere school that didn't have things as fancy as science fairs.
It's definitely not in my comfort zone.
Oh, and there's just one more thing.
You'll be cooking with these.
Say good-bye to your hotline because you'll be using all of this science equipment in the creation of your dish and your demo, and these will be your only sources of heat.
Cooking with test tubes and beakers-- it's practically ludicrous.
Time to meet your scientists and start discussing your principle and your dish.
Good luck.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- I'm Mary Sue.
- Hi, Mary Sue.
I need to know how to use that equipment, so maybe if you can show me.
Absolutely.
You don't have to use the pizza dough.
I know, but I think I want to.
Okay.
Gonna make, like, little mini, like, kind of pizza pockets.
I have viscosity, and I need to be able to demonstrate the difference the rates that fluid moves? Yes.
The difficult part about this challenge is trying to figure out how to make food that the students are gonna love using scientific equipment.
They're like little fritters, like churros.
Yes, oh, good.
I know kids love sweets.
So I'm going to make dessert.
Liquid friction.
With the emulsifier in there, you're emphasizing what is happening at the interface between the oil and the water phase.
Then there's also sort of a process aspect.
This kind of molecule isn't particularly happy in either oil or water.
It kind of wants to be in both.
Augustine is talking, and most of it's going over my head.
It's an emulsion of emulsions.
Then have another phase of the opposite kind inside.
Phew.
I'm just gonna show a basic emulsification of oil and vinegar in the dressing.
But I already did that.
Yeah, I know you did.
I'm doing it again.
I really wasn't much of a math and science person growing up.
I loved drinking a lot of coffee and hanging out.
School was not the largest portion of my day.
Do you know what this does? Sure, sure.
I think I was skipping class when we learned about that.
You know, the are different kinds of acids.
There's vinegar, there's verre jus, there's, you know, citrus.
Exactly.
- I got beef.
- Right.
And I know what happens to proteins when you cook them.
You're set.
My father thought that I could be a doctor, or an engineer, or anything I wanted to put my mind to.
And when I decided to work in the kitchen, he was a little disappointed.
I'm gonna take the beef and treat it two different ways, so it'll have two different flavors.
I'm very happy doing what I'm doing.
The only thing I'm not so happy about is my father never got to see the success I've had.
This is absolutely clear as for the demonstration between the two.
Good luck.
[Indistinct.]
- Are we all set now? - Yeah.
Do you feel a little better? I feel a little better.
I don't.
[Laughter.]
I'm nervous about the science part of it.
The science fair is gonna be a little bit limiting because we're cooking on bunsen burners and a couple of induction burners.
I decide to go with the okra salad that I've always done.
Gonna do mayonnaise-based dressing, and we'll make the mayonnaise.
But we're plating in a petri dish that's probably about three inches diameter which can be a bit of a tricky scenario.
Thank you.
I don't know if I'm gonna have enough money.
I'm buying all expensive stuff.
What's our time? 13 minutes! Okay.
I decide to make pizza pockets with three different pizza doughs using different types of flours to show how gluten creates elasticity.
Ooh, that's getting heavy.
Can I see the actual tuna? There are a few options in terms of creating a dish based on this acidic reaction in foods.
Cheese is made by introducing acid, and fish can actually be cooked by acid.
Can you hold that up so I can smell it? I choose to go with ceviche and the raw fish thing.
I could have done ricotta cheese, but to me that felt like it was gonna be a little boring.
Maybe I should go get another steak.
How much time do we have left? - Six minutes.
- Six minutes.
Go get it.
Run.
Excuse me.
Mary Sue offers to purchase something for Floyd.
So Floyd runs upstairs to the meat department.
I'm just waiting for Floyd.
You just have to be in line at the time, so if I throw you a steak from over there-- Well, so go over there.
Just wrap it and give it to me.
Floyd, throw that to me.
Whoo! Thank you.
Just in time the meat has been gotten.
Okay, let's go cook up a storm, guys.
All fun shopping going on.
Just let me get myself situated.
Whoa, look at all this crap on the table.
I have a lot to do and I'm not holding back with my lab assistant today.
We're gonna make the tomato sauce on the induction burners.
Giving carlin all the jobs.
You can take both of them back.
She's moving with purpose, she's moving quickly.
Which is great.
Team effort.
Yeah, I like it.
That's how scientists work.
- It will be very slow? - Slowish.
- Will this be faster? - I don't think so.
Bunsen burner's gonna be faster.
We're cooking with bunsen burners.
It's sort of like having one hand tied behind your back.
- Are you frying in there? - I'm gonna try.
Awesome.
The dish I'm making is a chocolate mousse served with a dulce de leche churro.
And I'm gonna garnish it with different sauces.
Watch me pour them on.
The sauces show viscosity by the different rates at which they run down the churros.
Hopefully we can make it look better than just glop on a plate that is still pretty ugly.
Is there plastic burning somewhere? Yeah, it smells like burning plastic.
No, it's the-- there's a coating on the stand that's burning over here.
Yeah.
Oh, look at the bunsen burners.
Explode, explode, explode, explode, explode.
Everybody seems to be pretty stressed out about the equipment.
This challenge is very tough.
So can you only use glass on those? The dish that I'm gonna be making is beef two ways.
I'm gonna sear beef above 250 degrees Fahrenheit which will turn brown, a process called the Maillard reaction.
I'm also gonna make a beef shabu-shabu, and I'm gonna show them how if you poach beef under 212 degrees Fahrenheit you will not get the Maillard reaction.
It won't turn brown.
I want to beat her today.
She's beaten me three times.
- Who? - You.
I've been in the top five times, and it's always been with Mary Sue.
I think that maybe I have a chance 'cause it's science-based.
Maybe I can beat Mary Sue finally.
I am totally getting into this.
Dr.
Cardoz.
My father would be so happy.
One hour, guys.
Do you know what the effect of fat is? You've gotta stop asking questions and just tell me.
I don't go to university.
Need to keep Augustine in line.
Those scientists can get a little ornery.
So I have decided that Augustine is gonna be an uber, uber qualified herb picker.
By the end of this, I'm gonna be completely off leafy greens.
When you guys work in the science lab, do you, like, whip out lunch on the bunsen burners and stuff like that? No.
So I think the citric acids-- actually give them a minute.
Yeah, so you just match the colors up.
The demo for the kids is gonna be putting lemon juice on Ahi tuna.
Fish can actually be cooked by acid.
I feel this reminiscence of relief knowing that I don't have to use the bunsen burners.
It's changing already.
You can see it right before your very eyes.
Five minutes.
Ah, it's open.
I start to do a couple of calzones, then they bloat out into the hot oil, and it's just kind of a disaster.
And I have to make, like, 100 of these tomorrow.
You're thinking there's gonna be problems tomorrow with doing the pockets? I'm hoping not.
It's difficult to deep-fry on two little induction burners, so I'm definitely feeling stressed.
They're not being hot.
I really thought the burners were gonna have more power.
It says it's getting hot, right? Good morning.
Good morning.
How you doing? I'm good.
How are you? - Are you excited? - Yes.
Okay.
You just have to sort of round it off.
Today we have to create a dish to demonstrate a scientific principle for high school students.
So you can work on that one.
We have no oven to bake in, and we have little induction burners that barely heat oil hot enough to fry anything.
So it's a tough challenge for everybody.
Does that show it well enough? - It does.
Yeah.
- Yeah? We are nothing if the food isn't good.
We are still something if my presentation lacks a little bit.
It's definitely thick.
- It's fine.
- It's fine? Yeah.
In every challenge, I get kind of nervous just before it starts because I think I'm not gonna do a good job.
[Glass breaks.]
But this challenge is interesting to me because I love science.
My charity is Young Scientist Cancer Research Fund.
I'm thinking, what better way to make money for my charity than to win the science fair? Oh, no, that's good.
You don't wanna overload it because of the chemical reaction.
It's gonna turn horribly olive green.
Something that represents some elasticity, and that is mushroom, chanterelle mushroom, and it also springs back.
Mm.
Nice.
In my calzones, I'm realizing I really need to seal that seal very carefully.
And if you stretch it too thin, an air bubble will form, and that's when the blowout can happen.
So I know that there's a lot that could go wrong, especially cooking on induction burners.
You can put the rest of these in the cooler.
That can stay out like that.
Get the mushroom, put it in another one.
A little scavenger hunt around the kitchen.
Yeah, I know.
It's always like that.
The ceviche and the raw fish, it's pretty simple.
But our first and foremost is to always make tasty food too.
And I know it tastes good.
There we go.
I don't know why this oil keeps just not being hot.
- This one too, even? - Yeah.
I'm getting a little bit nervous because the induction burners can heat the oil up to the right temperature, but as soon as I start adding the churros to the oil, the temperature falls to a point where it's just not cooking at a high enough heat.
It's my oil.
So I'm really only able to cook a handful of churros at a time.
I wish I could use our regular cooking equipment.
It says it's getting hot, right? Mm-hmm.
I think it'd be a really good idea to put the demo mayonnaise into the dish.
Even if we just sorta dot it on the side or something like that afterwards.
It's already in there.
Why are you saying that? If you actually make it in front of somebody and then put it on the plate, it'll carry the theme all the way from the base of-- But I think that connection is made if I just say, "and thus, this is a mayonnaise-based dressing that I've finished.
" I'm taking it into consideration.
Please do.
Augustine thinks I'm an idiot at this point, but that's okay.
I'm fine with that.
We'll play good scientist, bad scientist.
You're not a scientist.
You have to be curious to be a scientist.
And at what stage do you not think I'm curious? I don't know, I'm just kidding.
Okay, now what? - All right, you ready? - I'm ready.
Hi there.
How are you? Hi.
The kids enter, and they're immediately surrounding my table.
We're gonna demonstrate viscosity.
So you know what viscosity is? It's kind of like how thin or how thick liquids are.
Okay, you guys are probably ready for your churros, huh? I am frantically trying to keep up, because I really thought the burners were gonna have more power.
So I decide to fry the churros in the beaker, and the students could see that happening.
It's kind of like a mouthwatering visual.
I bet what you really want to do is eat.
[Laughter.]
Check this out.
Welcome to our edible science fair.
This is amazing.
Let's get cracking.
It's like a husband and wife who don't get along.
We want to make them get along somehow.
What we need is an emulsifier.
And so we're gonna do one here right now.
I think the demo goes well.
I'm getting the point across to the kids.
Augustine is frying okra, which was a class he took at M.
I.
T.
It was on Thursdays.
They look like metal.
But look, they're plastic.
Explain that, Augustine.
Electroplating.
Oh, okay.
Hi, Hugh.
Hello.
How are y'all? Good.
Of course you remember Ruth Reichl.
Yes.
How are you, Ruth? I'm great.
I'm glad to see you're still here.
Well, we're glad to be here.
- Hi.
- Hi! Let me introduce you to Padma Lakshmi, host of Top Chef.
So nice to meet you.
I've been a big fan for years.
Thank you.
Shall I teach you about viscosity? Please do.
I'm very excited to learn.
Viscosity is a way of measuring liquid friction.
If you take a little bit of each one of these, you can totally see the different viscosities.
Dulce de leche is the slow one.
It is still a taste test, after all.
These are churros, and I've replaced 30% of the donut batter with dulce de leche.
Heidi was able to teach me quite a lot.
She was an a-plus student.
Mary Sue, thank you so much.
Thank you.
Churro.
Churro's the best.
[Laughing.]
Yeah.
So this is a fried okra salad with tomatoes and braised bacon, fennel fronds, shaved parmesan.
And in the dish we've used a very basic emulsion of a very flavorful shallot/thyme vinaigrette and then the mayonnaise, which is a green goddess dressing.
But you've herbed-up this mayonnaise.
Right.
Honestly, Hugh, I would say this is barely a mayonnaise.
It kind of just came apart a bit there.
No.
No, you're looking at me like I'm wrong.
Ooh, no.
James is sort of contesting whether it's broken, and it's not broken.
He just doesn't know what he's talking about.
I'm awaiting my light bulb moment, and I haven't gotten it yet.
Yeah, you explain that.
He needs a light bulb.
He needs a scientist.
An emulsion is basically just a combination of those opposite things, the polar and the non-polar.
Ding.
All right, I'm on terra firma, and I thank you guys.
Thank you.
Thank you, guys.
Thanks a lot.
- Hi, Traci.
- Hi there.
Tell us all about acidity.
So I'm doing a demonstration of what happens to proteins when acid is introduced into them.
And I wanted to show them sort of the difference between tuna when it's penetrated by the acid and then just the flavor of acid on the tuna.
Here I have a little bit of tuna, and you can actually see the reaction happen very quickly.
So what actually happens to the structure of the tuna when the acidity is added to it? It breaks up the proteins, and so they sort of unravel and are looser.
- Hi, Naomi.
- Hello.
So today I am showing elasticity.
And so I've shown it in a lot of different ways.
The first is that I'm having the kids touch all these different doughs.
The second way is that mozzarella cheese is quite elastic.
So it will change from its elasticity to a plasticity.
This is casein which shows a springiness.
Also mushrooms have a natural springiness to them.
And then the gelee is another way that you can show a springiness.
The bonds in collagen are actually-- they act like elasticity too.
So I'm doing a couple different dishes today.
This is the first one.
Obviously the acid is not penetrating the tuna.
And this is balsamic and extra-virgin olive oil with cooked artichokes, oven-dried tomatoes, scallion and basil.
And then this one is a ceviche where the lemon juice was directly put onto the tuna.
So it's penetrating the proteins and changing those as if it was being cooked.
- Traci, thank you so much.
- Thank you.
My biggest worry about the demo is that I don't have, like, a lot of bells and whistles, 'cause I'm not actually cooking anything.
And the food that I'm serving is not exciting enough.
So first we have these, which are the mini pizzettas.
And that has a sauce of salumi from Paul Bertolli and some cracked green olives.
This is the mini calzone.
A little bit of truffle salt to finish.
And then there's that little gelee which will melt.
The idea is when this is warm it melts? Yeah, so that'll showcase that elasticity a little bit better.
We learned a lot from each other.
Thanks, you guys.
I loved how they explained elasticity and the mozzarella cheese.
I love cheese, personally, so I thought it was really good.
Cold mozzarella or hot mozzarella? Stretchy or springy? When you heat the molecules, it actually breaks them down and makes them plastic instead of elastic.
Maillard reaction is a reaction that happens to proteins, and it has to be above 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
I have my broth over the bunsen burner, and that heat is pretty intense.
My broth is reducing very, very quickly.
And I have to get my stock back to where I want it to be.
So I have to add water to balance out the evaporation process that's happening in the beaker.
Do we have a vegetarian? No.
No, we're all carnivores.
All carnivores, good.
Using science equipment to cook is not as easy as I thought it would be.
Forks right there.
If the broth over-reduces, it gets pretty intense.
And may get even salty.
I've been called for being salty a couple of times, and I don't want that to happen.
It's chewy.
Good.
Hi, Floyd.
Hi.
Good afternoon.
I'm explaining the browning of meat.
So the first dish I'm gonna make is a rib eye that I'm searing.
Serve it with roasted mushrooms, roasted asparagus, and a little fried potatoes.
The other thing that I'm doing is I am poaching beef shabu-shabu style.
This doesn't go above 212 degrees.
So you don't get the caramelization.
And the poached dish is a dish that my grandmother used to make.
It's called jeera-meera, meaning black pepper and cumin.
Now I know that you were almost going to go the scientific route.
Quite correct.
I was gonna be a biochemist.
Then I realized that I wanted to go into the hospitality industry, and my parents were not very thrilled.
I mean, I for one am happy that you went into the culinary-- I am happy too, because I get to cook and make people happy every single day.
Wonderful, Floyd.
Well, thank you.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- What's happening? - Nothing.
You dropping science? Did I drop science? No, are you dropping science? It used to be a term.
I think when you were young.
[Laughter.]
Can you taste the dulce de leche inside the churro? - It's really delicious.
- Thank you.
I must say this is the first time I've eaten off a petri dish.
Yeah.
You wanna try it? It's really good.
You'll be surprised.
I had a lot of kids going, "eww, raw fish.
" But, you know, I sort of sold them on it and said, "you know, try this.
I think it's gonna be different than you think.
" And most of them did, and they were really pleasantly surprised.
What is that, that's fennel in there? This has artichoke and fennel in it.
I have added a little bit of that gelee to the inside of these when they're hot.
And it'll melt, and it'll kinda just give a nice, like, veal and aged balsamic-- I did two dishes.
Oh, so we're doing the non-Maillard reaction in the boiling broth.
So I show the difference in the two.
Thanks.
That was so much fun.
It really was kind of a blast.
I honestly really did learn a few things today, and I feel like a better person for it.
But also some people really showed how the principle works in a tasty, edible way.
And, to me, I was one of those people always just completely glazed over in science class.
If I had been taught science class like this, I would have been more into it.
Do you think it worked? Yeah.
Do you? Yeah.
Hey, thank you so much.
No problem.
Oh! You did amazing.
You're, like, the best scientist ever.
I could not do it without you.
By the time the demonstration was over, I was so exhausted.
And there's a level of disappointment for me.
Like, in the end of the day, I served a pizza pocket.
- Thank you for coming.
- Thank you.
It was almost like sand.
You lost any pleasure of biting into something crunchy.
Those were cute, those kids.
Did they dig the pizza? They loved it.
They were freaking out about it.
I've always been more of a natural sciences person.
Going into college, I was living with four science majors.
They would come home and they would eat disgusting food, so I started putting off all of my studies to make dinner and have these dinner parties.
We'd have, like, 12 people over every night of the week.
And that's when I realized that I wasn't really meant to be a science nerd.
Mine was really helpful, but she was a definite scientist in her precision.
It's neat, but you're like, you know what, there's 60 kids standing in front of us, and they all want a piece of pizza, and it's okay.
So what was great was I had a guy come back to me.
He's like, "thank you.
"Now I know why my steak tastes like [bleep.]
.
Because I cook it too high.
" - Oh, that's so funny.
- He's like, "now I know.
" [Laughter.]
Well, chefs, I loved the edible science fair, and I learned something too, so well done.
Would you all please come with me? [Suspenseful music.]
Chefs, your challenge was to create a dish that used your scientific concept and present a demonstration for the high school students at the edible science fair.
How was the challenge? It was great.
It was eye-opening for me.
I really think overall I was surprised at how really nice-tasting a lot of the food was that we got today.
The critics had two overall favorites, and they were [Suspenseful music.]
Mary Sue's.
Thank you.
And Floyd's.
Congratulations, guys.
Mary Sue, you demonstrated viscosity in a really compelling way.
You made a really delicious dish.
Thank you.
I thought it was a really brilliant stroke using the dulce de leche inside of the churro.
Oh, my God, that was so delicious.
Thank you.
Turning that petri dish like that.
A great demonstration using great food to show us about viscosity.
Thank you.
Floyd, when you showed to us so clearly what the Maillard reaction was-- even better than that, I especially loved your grandma-inspired broth.
I thought it was just really peppery, and I loved that undertone of beef in it.
A very, very strong dish overall.
Thank you.
You both did really well.
The critics did have one overall favorite.
That chef will win $10,000 for their charity.
And the winning chef is Mary Sue.
Congratulations.
Well done.
I put my heart and soul into this challenge, especially because it's for kids.
It feels great to get them really excited about food and also get them excited about science.
I wish you were my science teacher, Mary Sue.
Congratulations, Mary Sue.
That's $10,000 to your charity, Share Our Strength, furnished by Lexus, which brings your total up to $30,000.
Well done.
I was just hoping that I could sneak one by Mary Sue, because she always seems to beat me.
So, Mary Sue, Floyd, both of you can now return to the wine room and wait for your colleagues.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Oh, man.
This is the hard part.
Yeah.
It's fabulous to win, but it's horrible to watch somebody go home.
- You did it three times.
- It's what? You've done it three times, and three times you've beaten me.
Have I? Were you with me each time? - Yeah.
- Oh! I'm happy she won.
But I hate being second best all the time.
[Suspenseful music.]
Naomi, tell us about your dish.
I was demonstrating elasticity, and there was everything out that they could touch so they could feel the differences in the doughs.
The mozzarella would change as it heated.
It was almost like maybe you were trying to show us too many things, with the gelee and then the cheese and then the dough.
Maybe because you guys arrived at the table after I had done the demonstration eight times, perhaps it became a little bit more muddled.
What got muddled for me is that putting the gelee with the melted cheese in the calzone made the calzone soggy.
I see, yeah.
Hugh, how did your demonstration of your scientific principle go? I thought it went well.
I mean, kids walk by mayonnaise every day.
They have no idea how it's made.
So I wanted to put it in very plain terms and get them excited about it.
Hugh, I liked your explanation just fine, but then when it came time to eat your dish, that particular emulsification and that particular mayonnaise kind of started to come apart because of the herbs.
Yeah, but we talked about that before, you and I, about how emulsions can be much looser than that.
But it's even, not broken.
That's what he said.
It wasn't broken.
For me, it was actually a bit broken.
There was, like, a kind of firmer core to the mayonnaise.
But then it was sort of starting to come apart at the sides a little bit.
That was the tomato juice, but-- No, no, I think it was the mayonnaise itself.
Hugh, I thought it was the most obvious thing to do, and in that I was a little disappointed.
Traci, tell us about how the demonstration went today.
I think it went really well.
I was demonstrating the principles of acid and their reaction with protein.
And I thought a great way to do that was with ceviche.
Traci, I did find it a very obvious demonstration when you think about acid and the first thing that comes into that light bulb for me is lemon juice and raw fish.
You were the only one who had something that was flavor to play with of all of these five elements.
I wish you'd showed the flavor piece of acid.
I would have liked to see, you know, tamarind, yuzu, sumac.
Yeah, that's a really good point.
I thought about it.
We actually tasted through a bunch-- I have a bunch of different vinegars and acids back in my pantry.
You really had done your homework, but we didn't necessarily get to experience it today.
Thank you for your comments.
Please return to the wine room while the critics make their final decision.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
I think it's gonna be me.
They thought it was too complicated.
Like, I had shown it in too many different ways, and you hadn't-- and I hadn't shown it enough.
I mean, we were supposed to appeal to 17-year-olds on a science experiment, and I definitely did that.
I'm sorry, but-- - Well, and I guess I didn't.
I've got to say, that was one of the most unusual challenges that we've had.
If I never eat out of a petri dish again, that would be an okay thing, so I know, I know, especially that salad, you know, that Hugh gave us.
It was just messy and difficult to balance even.
His was the least ambitious.
I mean, I felt like he really mailed it in.
My biggest gripe really was the mayonnaise was almost an afterthought in the dish.
And then there was that over-breaded, chewy okra.
That cornmeal breading, it was almost like sand.
I felt that Traci's food was very smart food.
The ceviche itself, God, whatever.
It just really--it wasn't that delicious for me.
And it didn't really demonstrate the principle of acidity as it interacts with a protein.
It didn't, I'm sorry.
It was very obvious.
Lemon is the first thing you think of acid in, and there is a cornucopia of different examples of acid, and I'd have liked to have seen more.
Now, when it comes to Naomi's demonstration, I just want to know whether I missed the demonstration or whether she wasn't doing one.
Because all that she really had were the different doughs that you could go up and check the gluten content of the different flours.
Unfortunately the gelee made Naomi's dough soggy rather than crisp, so you lost any pleasure of biting into something crunchy and then something gooey.
God, it's true, that melting gelee did really spurt in your mouth in the most unpleasant way.
Well, it sounds like you guys have come to a consensus on what was your least favorite dish.
- Yes.
- Yes, I think so.
- Yeah.
- I'll go and get the chefs.
Naomi, Hugh, Traci, unfortunately you served the critics' least favorite dishes tonight, and one of you will be eliminated.
Naomi, the explanation of elasticity did feel a little muddy.
Hugh, the emulsion wasn't highlighted as well as it could have been.
And all we had was a bunch of greens and a piece of fried okra.
Traci, in many ways you had the easiest principle to understand, and I would have liked you to dig a little deeper and do something a little more interesting.
And the chef who will be leaving us tonight Is Hugh.
All good.
You've done a fantastic job throughout the competition.
You've cooked some beautiful food.
It's all been fun.
You managed to win $15,000 for your charity, Wholesome Wave.
Congratulations.
Well, thanks.
Hugh, please return to the kitchen and pack your knives.
Naomi and Traci, you can return to your fellow chefs.
Thank you.
Thank you all.
Thank you.
One of us has to go home, so to me it's a great honor to have been here, and it was a lot of fun.
And it's for good charities, and that's what we're here for.
Whoo.
I'm outta here.
All good.
It's been a pleasure.
- All good.
- We're gonna miss you.
Who's gonna keep us laughing? The laugh machine.
I'll send you snippets of laughter.
It's been fun to show off and have fun with it.
I hope that shows through to everyone, and I think it did.
Have fun in it.
Enjoy each other.
- We'll miss you.
- Okay.
What I've found with food is that it's a beautiful thing for me.
What you want in life is to have a career that's an endless topic, and I can learn about food every day, every day of my life.
Good luck.
Enjoy it.
Bye, Hugh.
Next time on Top Chef Masters Well, can you cook? - Is it down below? - Yes! Okay, you're going too fast.
They're just slow.
- Okay, listen.
- I'm listening.
Naomi's screaming at this person.
It's kind of appalling.
I already told you, a half an inch wide.
I don't know what's going on with this guy.
No, taste it! Ahh! [Cheers and applause.]
Welcome home, everyone.
I've never tasted anything like this.
The ribs was great.
I don't know what that sauce was she put on 'em.
- A little piece to remind you-- - that's awesome.
But I really appreciate everything you did for me and how much you mean.
When you get a gift from someone and it means a lot to them, it should mean a lot to you too.
For more information on Top Chef Masters, visit bravotv.
com.
Six of the most acclaimed chefs in America put their reputations on the line in one culinary clash of the titans.
- You better start plating.
- I'm going! Love was in the air, as the chefs were challenged to create a romantic meal worthy of a surprise proposal.
Will you marry me? If she says no, this is gonna be the most awkward moment in television history.
Naomi's winning porcini-braised chicken helped seal the deal.
It just felt soulful, and it felt really special.
But Celina's perplexing pretzel left a salty taste in everyone's mouth.
Celina's dish is me like junior high romance.
And sent her home.
Five chefs remain.
But only one can emerge victorious and win the grand prize of $100,000 for their charity, furnished by Kitchenaid, and be crowned as the winner of Top Chef Masters.
Top Chef Masters 3x08 Blinded Me With Science All of you have come far in this competition winning lots of money for your charities.
It feels great to be in the top five and to share this with Traci.
She's a dear friend, and we both have known that either one of us could leave at any time.
But I'm gonna give her a run for her money.
Only one of you will make it to the end and win $100,000 furnished by Kitchenaid.
We're standing in a kitchen which is packed full of cutting-edge equipment, anything a chef might need to pull off a culinary masterpiece.
For your quickfire, you'll not be using any of that equipment.
You'll be working with an appliance that millions of Americans use every day: The microwave.
Microwaves cook in a really strange style.
I think we had the first edition of the microwave oven back in 1976.
I had one friend who wasn't allowed over because his parents were scared of radiation.
[Chuckles.]
Your challenge is to use your microwave to make breakfast.
Our guest diners are two working women on the go.
They're always traveling, and they have to piece together meals often out of a microwave.
You have ten minutes to create your breakfast dish, but your microwave is your only source of heat, and your dish must be hot.
The chef with the winning dish scores $5,000 for their charity.
And your ten minutes starts now.
Can I get some bacon? I have a line of food which is microwavable, but I have never cooked eggs in a microwave.
I know if it had been any other protein I could have done something, so this is throwing me for a loop.
Who took all the chanterelle? I will give you some chanterelle.
Here.
I want to make something with eggs, 'cause I like savory breakfasts.
I grab some bacon, a couple shallots, and some baby spinach.
I don't own a microwave, and I don't have a microwave in my restaurant.
As a child, I grew up microwave-free, so I really just don't have the first idea about how to use one.
I suppose you just press the button.
Just like McDonald's.
Making this baked egg with bacon and spinach and tomatoes.
At home, Clementine, my youngest daughter, is relatively adept with microwave cooking.
Other than that, we just really don't ever use the microwave, so it's gonna be a little bit challenging.
I hear my eggs lightly exploding.
We'll see if we get any caramelization happening in the microwave.
I'm making an egg en cocotte.
I don't like egg whites very much, so I'm getting rid of the white altogether and just going with the yolk.
And I'm gonna gently heat that in water.
So it just kind of warms it, and it's not harshly cooking the egg.
I wonder how much time it takes to cook that.
The only thing I've used a microwave for is to reheat my tea.
I'm making a goat cheese and avocado sandwich, and I'm worried about the bread, because it really is a lot tougher than I expected.
And I don't know how to remedy that.
7 1/2 minutes left, guys.
As a kid I always liked to hang out in the kitchen because I liked to eat.
One of the first omelets I made for my family was a souffle omelet with bacon and mushrooms.
It was something that I was very proud of, and I decided that I'm gonna make that same dish.
Chefs, you have five minutes remaining.
Oh! The only problem I'm kinda having is the bacon.
I wanted it to be crispy, but I still think I have a nice thing going on.
I got the chanterelle, the shallot, and the egg yolk.
It's all in this little compact cute little egg.
The eggs are not cooking.
I just pour the eggs over the top of everything.
It looks like a mess.
It looks like a five-year-old made this.
I know that the eggs are not gonna cook evenly.
I whisk it and start it again.
Hopefully I'm able to finish it at the last minute.
27 seconds.
Ah.
Souffle, voila.
Chefs, time is up.
You must stop your microwaves.
My only disappointment is the actual cookery of the egg, but I don't think that anybody's gonna be pulling out the best egg they've ever cooked out of those microwaves.
- Ladies.
- Yes.
- Good morning.
- Good morning, hi.
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
- How's it going? - Good.
So, Francis, Angela, tell me, what's your favorite thing to eat in the morning? Oh, you know what, whatever I can piece together and get hot.
Today our guest diners are Francis and Angela.
They're two comedians that are better known as Frangela.
And do you know your way around a microwave? Oh, we are masters of microwaves.
Yeah, when you get off the stage at 1:00 or 2:00 a.
m.
, there's nothing open.
And also I have a problem with stoves.
The city of Los Angeles has requested that I no longer use my stove.
[Laughs.]
Let's dig in and try th first one.
This is a biscuit egg sandwich with bacon, chanterelles, and spinach.
That's good.
Yeah, that is good.
It's a classed-up, you know, biscuit sandwich.
Yes.
To me, the biscuit was just a little heavy.
It didn't taste like my grandma's biscuits.
It didn't? Wow, okay.
Oh, God.
I mean, come on.
How much pride can you actually have for knowing a ton about microwaves? The next chef has created a baked egg with chanterelles, tomato, spinach, and bacon.
I think it's really cool-looking.
I'm more of a fan of a runnier yolk, so I wish it was a little less cooked.
Microwave.
But I like mine a little bit more dry, so this is perfect for me.
The bacon is fantastic.
This is a warm goat's cheese and avocado sandwich with bacon vinaigrette and basil.
Let's have a little taste.
It's a little hard-- excuse me.
[Laughs.]
It's a little messy to eat.
This is a lovely midnight snack.
You come in from the bar.
I think breakfast is something that is so interpretive, and some people like traditional breakfasts and some don't.
So that's the way the cookie crumbles.
This is a chanterelle, bacon, and spinach omelet with grilled tomatoes.
I think I've had something pretty similar to this on an airplane once before.
Oh, come on, you.
But it tastes better than that.
It does have that look.
It's a [bleep.]
microwave.
What do you expect? The texture came out lovely.
Flavors are great.
And to do that in a microwave in five minutes, amazing.
I was totally surprised.
They loved my omelet, and that made me very happy.
So our last chef has created a dish called oeuf en cocotte with chanterelles and bacon and bananas with lime.
It's an interesting presentation, right? I think the presentation's amazing.
It reminds me of the Caribbean a little bit.
I can smell the tropical breeze.
If you're hot at all, you can take off your shirt.
We don't mind.
If that's the way you cook, we don't wanna stop you.
We don't want to interfere with how you do.
I gotta tip for you though, ladies.
Never cook bacon naked.
- Ah.
- Good note.
And never use a meat grinder naked too.
[Laughter.]
So what do you think of the oeuf en cocotte? There's not much to this.
It's not gonna fill you up at all.
Probably wasn't the right dish for this.
Maybe I went way too overarching here, and I should have just gone for a basic breakfast.
So do you think you've got an overall favorite? Both: Yes.
Okay, folks, let's go.
Let's go.
So, ladies, how was the experience? We couldn't believe that this was made in that little time in a microwave.
Yeah, and I'm a working mom, and I'm inspired to do more and better in my microwave.
The ladies had some favorites and some least favorites.
Let's start with the least favorites.
- The avocado sandwich.
- That was mine.
Everything on top of the sandwich was delicious, but I think in the microwave the bread got a little hard, so it was kind like eating a football a little bit.
What else? - The oeuf en cocotte.
- That was me.
- Love the name.
- Yes.
But not very filling.
It just didn't seem to work too well together, the bananas and the egg.
Although it was nice to dig.
Yes.
And it was a surprise.
It was a surprise to dig.
Maybe a little too artistic.
Fair enough.
So what about some of your favorites, ladies? One of your favorites was the omelet.
Who made the omelet? Floyd.
It was moist, it was delicious.
The flavors were fantastic.
Thank you.
Finally not on the bottom.
I'm excited because it might be my first quickfire win.
Another one we really liked was the baked egg.
Hugh.
The baked egg was beautiful.
It was inspired.
Thank you.
Ladies, you did have one absolute favorite, right? Our absolute favorite Was the baked egg.
Hugh.
Thank you.
Well done.
That's three quickfire wins.
My track record with the oddity quickfires seems to be pretty good, spanning bugs and senses and now microwaves.
So that's okay, I'll take them.
Congratulations, Hugh, that's $5,000 for your charity, Wholesome Wave, furnished by Lexus, which brings your total to $15,000.
That's awesome.
It'll be used for good work.
I can't believe that this is the eighth quickfire.
I haven't managed to win one.
I'm so embarrassed.
Is there plastic burning somewhere? Yeah, sure smells like burning plastic.
Cooking with beakers, and bunsen burners.
It's ludicrous.
Explode, explode, explode, explode, explode.
Recipes are a lot like formulas.
You combine elements, you add and subtract them.
You make them hot, you make them cold, and that creates a reaction.
You could look at it a bit like a scientific formula, and that's the theme of your next elimination challenge.
Please welcome your laboratory assistants.
Curtis brings out five people in lab coats.
So I'm a little nervous about what the challenge could be.
Here are five scientists standing behind five sets of ingredients.
Each represent a different scientific principle.
Carlin is a nanotechnologist.
What does the pizza dough represent? Elasticity.
Elastic molecules in pizza dough act like springs so when you deform them, they wanna bounce back.
Heidi is a chemist.
These liquids represent viscosity, which is liquid friction or resistance to motion.
Carolyn is an evolutionary biologist.
Citrus represents acidity.
Acids can change the chemistry of other foods, like with cabbage juice.
Augustine is a polymer physicist.
This vinaigrette represents emulsion, a mixture of incompatible liquids like oil and vinegar.
When shaken, it forms droplets of one in the other.
And Michael is an experimental physicist.
This beef represents the Maillard reaction.
When exposed to high heat, the sugars and protein present in the beef produces the browning of cooked meat.
Hugh, you won the quickfire, so you can select your principle first.
And then you'll choose another chef to select next.
I'll take emulsion.
Traci, let 'er rip.
I'll take acidity.
- Who's next, Traci? - Floyd.
I love science.
I used to be a biochemist.
So I am excited for this challenge.
Beef.
Which represents the Maillard reaction.
Mary Sue.
I'll take viscosity.
Which means, Naomi, you have elasticity.
Each of you has chosen a scientific concept.
You'll have to make a dish that not only illustrates the scientific principle but of course it has to taste good, which you'll demonstrate at our edible science fair for high school students tomorrow.
I'm not a science geek.
I went to a podunk nowhere school that didn't have things as fancy as science fairs.
It's definitely not in my comfort zone.
Oh, and there's just one more thing.
You'll be cooking with these.
Say good-bye to your hotline because you'll be using all of this science equipment in the creation of your dish and your demo, and these will be your only sources of heat.
Cooking with test tubes and beakers-- it's practically ludicrous.
Time to meet your scientists and start discussing your principle and your dish.
Good luck.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- I'm Mary Sue.
- Hi, Mary Sue.
I need to know how to use that equipment, so maybe if you can show me.
Absolutely.
You don't have to use the pizza dough.
I know, but I think I want to.
Okay.
Gonna make, like, little mini, like, kind of pizza pockets.
I have viscosity, and I need to be able to demonstrate the difference the rates that fluid moves? Yes.
The difficult part about this challenge is trying to figure out how to make food that the students are gonna love using scientific equipment.
They're like little fritters, like churros.
Yes, oh, good.
I know kids love sweets.
So I'm going to make dessert.
Liquid friction.
With the emulsifier in there, you're emphasizing what is happening at the interface between the oil and the water phase.
Then there's also sort of a process aspect.
This kind of molecule isn't particularly happy in either oil or water.
It kind of wants to be in both.
Augustine is talking, and most of it's going over my head.
It's an emulsion of emulsions.
Then have another phase of the opposite kind inside.
Phew.
I'm just gonna show a basic emulsification of oil and vinegar in the dressing.
But I already did that.
Yeah, I know you did.
I'm doing it again.
I really wasn't much of a math and science person growing up.
I loved drinking a lot of coffee and hanging out.
School was not the largest portion of my day.
Do you know what this does? Sure, sure.
I think I was skipping class when we learned about that.
You know, the are different kinds of acids.
There's vinegar, there's verre jus, there's, you know, citrus.
Exactly.
- I got beef.
- Right.
And I know what happens to proteins when you cook them.
You're set.
My father thought that I could be a doctor, or an engineer, or anything I wanted to put my mind to.
And when I decided to work in the kitchen, he was a little disappointed.
I'm gonna take the beef and treat it two different ways, so it'll have two different flavors.
I'm very happy doing what I'm doing.
The only thing I'm not so happy about is my father never got to see the success I've had.
This is absolutely clear as for the demonstration between the two.
Good luck.
[Indistinct.]
- Are we all set now? - Yeah.
Do you feel a little better? I feel a little better.
I don't.
[Laughter.]
I'm nervous about the science part of it.
The science fair is gonna be a little bit limiting because we're cooking on bunsen burners and a couple of induction burners.
I decide to go with the okra salad that I've always done.
Gonna do mayonnaise-based dressing, and we'll make the mayonnaise.
But we're plating in a petri dish that's probably about three inches diameter which can be a bit of a tricky scenario.
Thank you.
I don't know if I'm gonna have enough money.
I'm buying all expensive stuff.
What's our time? 13 minutes! Okay.
I decide to make pizza pockets with three different pizza doughs using different types of flours to show how gluten creates elasticity.
Ooh, that's getting heavy.
Can I see the actual tuna? There are a few options in terms of creating a dish based on this acidic reaction in foods.
Cheese is made by introducing acid, and fish can actually be cooked by acid.
Can you hold that up so I can smell it? I choose to go with ceviche and the raw fish thing.
I could have done ricotta cheese, but to me that felt like it was gonna be a little boring.
Maybe I should go get another steak.
How much time do we have left? - Six minutes.
- Six minutes.
Go get it.
Run.
Excuse me.
Mary Sue offers to purchase something for Floyd.
So Floyd runs upstairs to the meat department.
I'm just waiting for Floyd.
You just have to be in line at the time, so if I throw you a steak from over there-- Well, so go over there.
Just wrap it and give it to me.
Floyd, throw that to me.
Whoo! Thank you.
Just in time the meat has been gotten.
Okay, let's go cook up a storm, guys.
All fun shopping going on.
Just let me get myself situated.
Whoa, look at all this crap on the table.
I have a lot to do and I'm not holding back with my lab assistant today.
We're gonna make the tomato sauce on the induction burners.
Giving carlin all the jobs.
You can take both of them back.
She's moving with purpose, she's moving quickly.
Which is great.
Team effort.
Yeah, I like it.
That's how scientists work.
- It will be very slow? - Slowish.
- Will this be faster? - I don't think so.
Bunsen burner's gonna be faster.
We're cooking with bunsen burners.
It's sort of like having one hand tied behind your back.
- Are you frying in there? - I'm gonna try.
Awesome.
The dish I'm making is a chocolate mousse served with a dulce de leche churro.
And I'm gonna garnish it with different sauces.
Watch me pour them on.
The sauces show viscosity by the different rates at which they run down the churros.
Hopefully we can make it look better than just glop on a plate that is still pretty ugly.
Is there plastic burning somewhere? Yeah, it smells like burning plastic.
No, it's the-- there's a coating on the stand that's burning over here.
Yeah.
Oh, look at the bunsen burners.
Explode, explode, explode, explode, explode.
Everybody seems to be pretty stressed out about the equipment.
This challenge is very tough.
So can you only use glass on those? The dish that I'm gonna be making is beef two ways.
I'm gonna sear beef above 250 degrees Fahrenheit which will turn brown, a process called the Maillard reaction.
I'm also gonna make a beef shabu-shabu, and I'm gonna show them how if you poach beef under 212 degrees Fahrenheit you will not get the Maillard reaction.
It won't turn brown.
I want to beat her today.
She's beaten me three times.
- Who? - You.
I've been in the top five times, and it's always been with Mary Sue.
I think that maybe I have a chance 'cause it's science-based.
Maybe I can beat Mary Sue finally.
I am totally getting into this.
Dr.
Cardoz.
My father would be so happy.
One hour, guys.
Do you know what the effect of fat is? You've gotta stop asking questions and just tell me.
I don't go to university.
Need to keep Augustine in line.
Those scientists can get a little ornery.
So I have decided that Augustine is gonna be an uber, uber qualified herb picker.
By the end of this, I'm gonna be completely off leafy greens.
When you guys work in the science lab, do you, like, whip out lunch on the bunsen burners and stuff like that? No.
So I think the citric acids-- actually give them a minute.
Yeah, so you just match the colors up.
The demo for the kids is gonna be putting lemon juice on Ahi tuna.
Fish can actually be cooked by acid.
I feel this reminiscence of relief knowing that I don't have to use the bunsen burners.
It's changing already.
You can see it right before your very eyes.
Five minutes.
Ah, it's open.
I start to do a couple of calzones, then they bloat out into the hot oil, and it's just kind of a disaster.
And I have to make, like, 100 of these tomorrow.
You're thinking there's gonna be problems tomorrow with doing the pockets? I'm hoping not.
It's difficult to deep-fry on two little induction burners, so I'm definitely feeling stressed.
They're not being hot.
I really thought the burners were gonna have more power.
It says it's getting hot, right? Good morning.
Good morning.
How you doing? I'm good.
How are you? - Are you excited? - Yes.
Okay.
You just have to sort of round it off.
Today we have to create a dish to demonstrate a scientific principle for high school students.
So you can work on that one.
We have no oven to bake in, and we have little induction burners that barely heat oil hot enough to fry anything.
So it's a tough challenge for everybody.
Does that show it well enough? - It does.
Yeah.
- Yeah? We are nothing if the food isn't good.
We are still something if my presentation lacks a little bit.
It's definitely thick.
- It's fine.
- It's fine? Yeah.
In every challenge, I get kind of nervous just before it starts because I think I'm not gonna do a good job.
[Glass breaks.]
But this challenge is interesting to me because I love science.
My charity is Young Scientist Cancer Research Fund.
I'm thinking, what better way to make money for my charity than to win the science fair? Oh, no, that's good.
You don't wanna overload it because of the chemical reaction.
It's gonna turn horribly olive green.
Something that represents some elasticity, and that is mushroom, chanterelle mushroom, and it also springs back.
Mm.
Nice.
In my calzones, I'm realizing I really need to seal that seal very carefully.
And if you stretch it too thin, an air bubble will form, and that's when the blowout can happen.
So I know that there's a lot that could go wrong, especially cooking on induction burners.
You can put the rest of these in the cooler.
That can stay out like that.
Get the mushroom, put it in another one.
A little scavenger hunt around the kitchen.
Yeah, I know.
It's always like that.
The ceviche and the raw fish, it's pretty simple.
But our first and foremost is to always make tasty food too.
And I know it tastes good.
There we go.
I don't know why this oil keeps just not being hot.
- This one too, even? - Yeah.
I'm getting a little bit nervous because the induction burners can heat the oil up to the right temperature, but as soon as I start adding the churros to the oil, the temperature falls to a point where it's just not cooking at a high enough heat.
It's my oil.
So I'm really only able to cook a handful of churros at a time.
I wish I could use our regular cooking equipment.
It says it's getting hot, right? Mm-hmm.
I think it'd be a really good idea to put the demo mayonnaise into the dish.
Even if we just sorta dot it on the side or something like that afterwards.
It's already in there.
Why are you saying that? If you actually make it in front of somebody and then put it on the plate, it'll carry the theme all the way from the base of-- But I think that connection is made if I just say, "and thus, this is a mayonnaise-based dressing that I've finished.
" I'm taking it into consideration.
Please do.
Augustine thinks I'm an idiot at this point, but that's okay.
I'm fine with that.
We'll play good scientist, bad scientist.
You're not a scientist.
You have to be curious to be a scientist.
And at what stage do you not think I'm curious? I don't know, I'm just kidding.
Okay, now what? - All right, you ready? - I'm ready.
Hi there.
How are you? Hi.
The kids enter, and they're immediately surrounding my table.
We're gonna demonstrate viscosity.
So you know what viscosity is? It's kind of like how thin or how thick liquids are.
Okay, you guys are probably ready for your churros, huh? I am frantically trying to keep up, because I really thought the burners were gonna have more power.
So I decide to fry the churros in the beaker, and the students could see that happening.
It's kind of like a mouthwatering visual.
I bet what you really want to do is eat.
[Laughter.]
Check this out.
Welcome to our edible science fair.
This is amazing.
Let's get cracking.
It's like a husband and wife who don't get along.
We want to make them get along somehow.
What we need is an emulsifier.
And so we're gonna do one here right now.
I think the demo goes well.
I'm getting the point across to the kids.
Augustine is frying okra, which was a class he took at M.
I.
T.
It was on Thursdays.
They look like metal.
But look, they're plastic.
Explain that, Augustine.
Electroplating.
Oh, okay.
Hi, Hugh.
Hello.
How are y'all? Good.
Of course you remember Ruth Reichl.
Yes.
How are you, Ruth? I'm great.
I'm glad to see you're still here.
Well, we're glad to be here.
- Hi.
- Hi! Let me introduce you to Padma Lakshmi, host of Top Chef.
So nice to meet you.
I've been a big fan for years.
Thank you.
Shall I teach you about viscosity? Please do.
I'm very excited to learn.
Viscosity is a way of measuring liquid friction.
If you take a little bit of each one of these, you can totally see the different viscosities.
Dulce de leche is the slow one.
It is still a taste test, after all.
These are churros, and I've replaced 30% of the donut batter with dulce de leche.
Heidi was able to teach me quite a lot.
She was an a-plus student.
Mary Sue, thank you so much.
Thank you.
Churro.
Churro's the best.
[Laughing.]
Yeah.
So this is a fried okra salad with tomatoes and braised bacon, fennel fronds, shaved parmesan.
And in the dish we've used a very basic emulsion of a very flavorful shallot/thyme vinaigrette and then the mayonnaise, which is a green goddess dressing.
But you've herbed-up this mayonnaise.
Right.
Honestly, Hugh, I would say this is barely a mayonnaise.
It kind of just came apart a bit there.
No.
No, you're looking at me like I'm wrong.
Ooh, no.
James is sort of contesting whether it's broken, and it's not broken.
He just doesn't know what he's talking about.
I'm awaiting my light bulb moment, and I haven't gotten it yet.
Yeah, you explain that.
He needs a light bulb.
He needs a scientist.
An emulsion is basically just a combination of those opposite things, the polar and the non-polar.
Ding.
All right, I'm on terra firma, and I thank you guys.
Thank you.
Thank you, guys.
Thanks a lot.
- Hi, Traci.
- Hi there.
Tell us all about acidity.
So I'm doing a demonstration of what happens to proteins when acid is introduced into them.
And I wanted to show them sort of the difference between tuna when it's penetrated by the acid and then just the flavor of acid on the tuna.
Here I have a little bit of tuna, and you can actually see the reaction happen very quickly.
So what actually happens to the structure of the tuna when the acidity is added to it? It breaks up the proteins, and so they sort of unravel and are looser.
- Hi, Naomi.
- Hello.
So today I am showing elasticity.
And so I've shown it in a lot of different ways.
The first is that I'm having the kids touch all these different doughs.
The second way is that mozzarella cheese is quite elastic.
So it will change from its elasticity to a plasticity.
This is casein which shows a springiness.
Also mushrooms have a natural springiness to them.
And then the gelee is another way that you can show a springiness.
The bonds in collagen are actually-- they act like elasticity too.
So I'm doing a couple different dishes today.
This is the first one.
Obviously the acid is not penetrating the tuna.
And this is balsamic and extra-virgin olive oil with cooked artichokes, oven-dried tomatoes, scallion and basil.
And then this one is a ceviche where the lemon juice was directly put onto the tuna.
So it's penetrating the proteins and changing those as if it was being cooked.
- Traci, thank you so much.
- Thank you.
My biggest worry about the demo is that I don't have, like, a lot of bells and whistles, 'cause I'm not actually cooking anything.
And the food that I'm serving is not exciting enough.
So first we have these, which are the mini pizzettas.
And that has a sauce of salumi from Paul Bertolli and some cracked green olives.
This is the mini calzone.
A little bit of truffle salt to finish.
And then there's that little gelee which will melt.
The idea is when this is warm it melts? Yeah, so that'll showcase that elasticity a little bit better.
We learned a lot from each other.
Thanks, you guys.
I loved how they explained elasticity and the mozzarella cheese.
I love cheese, personally, so I thought it was really good.
Cold mozzarella or hot mozzarella? Stretchy or springy? When you heat the molecules, it actually breaks them down and makes them plastic instead of elastic.
Maillard reaction is a reaction that happens to proteins, and it has to be above 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
I have my broth over the bunsen burner, and that heat is pretty intense.
My broth is reducing very, very quickly.
And I have to get my stock back to where I want it to be.
So I have to add water to balance out the evaporation process that's happening in the beaker.
Do we have a vegetarian? No.
No, we're all carnivores.
All carnivores, good.
Using science equipment to cook is not as easy as I thought it would be.
Forks right there.
If the broth over-reduces, it gets pretty intense.
And may get even salty.
I've been called for being salty a couple of times, and I don't want that to happen.
It's chewy.
Good.
Hi, Floyd.
Hi.
Good afternoon.
I'm explaining the browning of meat.
So the first dish I'm gonna make is a rib eye that I'm searing.
Serve it with roasted mushrooms, roasted asparagus, and a little fried potatoes.
The other thing that I'm doing is I am poaching beef shabu-shabu style.
This doesn't go above 212 degrees.
So you don't get the caramelization.
And the poached dish is a dish that my grandmother used to make.
It's called jeera-meera, meaning black pepper and cumin.
Now I know that you were almost going to go the scientific route.
Quite correct.
I was gonna be a biochemist.
Then I realized that I wanted to go into the hospitality industry, and my parents were not very thrilled.
I mean, I for one am happy that you went into the culinary-- I am happy too, because I get to cook and make people happy every single day.
Wonderful, Floyd.
Well, thank you.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- What's happening? - Nothing.
You dropping science? Did I drop science? No, are you dropping science? It used to be a term.
I think when you were young.
[Laughter.]
Can you taste the dulce de leche inside the churro? - It's really delicious.
- Thank you.
I must say this is the first time I've eaten off a petri dish.
Yeah.
You wanna try it? It's really good.
You'll be surprised.
I had a lot of kids going, "eww, raw fish.
" But, you know, I sort of sold them on it and said, "you know, try this.
I think it's gonna be different than you think.
" And most of them did, and they were really pleasantly surprised.
What is that, that's fennel in there? This has artichoke and fennel in it.
I have added a little bit of that gelee to the inside of these when they're hot.
And it'll melt, and it'll kinda just give a nice, like, veal and aged balsamic-- I did two dishes.
Oh, so we're doing the non-Maillard reaction in the boiling broth.
So I show the difference in the two.
Thanks.
That was so much fun.
It really was kind of a blast.
I honestly really did learn a few things today, and I feel like a better person for it.
But also some people really showed how the principle works in a tasty, edible way.
And, to me, I was one of those people always just completely glazed over in science class.
If I had been taught science class like this, I would have been more into it.
Do you think it worked? Yeah.
Do you? Yeah.
Hey, thank you so much.
No problem.
Oh! You did amazing.
You're, like, the best scientist ever.
I could not do it without you.
By the time the demonstration was over, I was so exhausted.
And there's a level of disappointment for me.
Like, in the end of the day, I served a pizza pocket.
- Thank you for coming.
- Thank you.
It was almost like sand.
You lost any pleasure of biting into something crunchy.
Those were cute, those kids.
Did they dig the pizza? They loved it.
They were freaking out about it.
I've always been more of a natural sciences person.
Going into college, I was living with four science majors.
They would come home and they would eat disgusting food, so I started putting off all of my studies to make dinner and have these dinner parties.
We'd have, like, 12 people over every night of the week.
And that's when I realized that I wasn't really meant to be a science nerd.
Mine was really helpful, but she was a definite scientist in her precision.
It's neat, but you're like, you know what, there's 60 kids standing in front of us, and they all want a piece of pizza, and it's okay.
So what was great was I had a guy come back to me.
He's like, "thank you.
"Now I know why my steak tastes like [bleep.]
.
Because I cook it too high.
" - Oh, that's so funny.
- He's like, "now I know.
" [Laughter.]
Well, chefs, I loved the edible science fair, and I learned something too, so well done.
Would you all please come with me? [Suspenseful music.]
Chefs, your challenge was to create a dish that used your scientific concept and present a demonstration for the high school students at the edible science fair.
How was the challenge? It was great.
It was eye-opening for me.
I really think overall I was surprised at how really nice-tasting a lot of the food was that we got today.
The critics had two overall favorites, and they were [Suspenseful music.]
Mary Sue's.
Thank you.
And Floyd's.
Congratulations, guys.
Mary Sue, you demonstrated viscosity in a really compelling way.
You made a really delicious dish.
Thank you.
I thought it was a really brilliant stroke using the dulce de leche inside of the churro.
Oh, my God, that was so delicious.
Thank you.
Turning that petri dish like that.
A great demonstration using great food to show us about viscosity.
Thank you.
Floyd, when you showed to us so clearly what the Maillard reaction was-- even better than that, I especially loved your grandma-inspired broth.
I thought it was just really peppery, and I loved that undertone of beef in it.
A very, very strong dish overall.
Thank you.
You both did really well.
The critics did have one overall favorite.
That chef will win $10,000 for their charity.
And the winning chef is Mary Sue.
Congratulations.
Well done.
I put my heart and soul into this challenge, especially because it's for kids.
It feels great to get them really excited about food and also get them excited about science.
I wish you were my science teacher, Mary Sue.
Congratulations, Mary Sue.
That's $10,000 to your charity, Share Our Strength, furnished by Lexus, which brings your total up to $30,000.
Well done.
I was just hoping that I could sneak one by Mary Sue, because she always seems to beat me.
So, Mary Sue, Floyd, both of you can now return to the wine room and wait for your colleagues.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Oh, man.
This is the hard part.
Yeah.
It's fabulous to win, but it's horrible to watch somebody go home.
- You did it three times.
- It's what? You've done it three times, and three times you've beaten me.
Have I? Were you with me each time? - Yeah.
- Oh! I'm happy she won.
But I hate being second best all the time.
[Suspenseful music.]
Naomi, tell us about your dish.
I was demonstrating elasticity, and there was everything out that they could touch so they could feel the differences in the doughs.
The mozzarella would change as it heated.
It was almost like maybe you were trying to show us too many things, with the gelee and then the cheese and then the dough.
Maybe because you guys arrived at the table after I had done the demonstration eight times, perhaps it became a little bit more muddled.
What got muddled for me is that putting the gelee with the melted cheese in the calzone made the calzone soggy.
I see, yeah.
Hugh, how did your demonstration of your scientific principle go? I thought it went well.
I mean, kids walk by mayonnaise every day.
They have no idea how it's made.
So I wanted to put it in very plain terms and get them excited about it.
Hugh, I liked your explanation just fine, but then when it came time to eat your dish, that particular emulsification and that particular mayonnaise kind of started to come apart because of the herbs.
Yeah, but we talked about that before, you and I, about how emulsions can be much looser than that.
But it's even, not broken.
That's what he said.
It wasn't broken.
For me, it was actually a bit broken.
There was, like, a kind of firmer core to the mayonnaise.
But then it was sort of starting to come apart at the sides a little bit.
That was the tomato juice, but-- No, no, I think it was the mayonnaise itself.
Hugh, I thought it was the most obvious thing to do, and in that I was a little disappointed.
Traci, tell us about how the demonstration went today.
I think it went really well.
I was demonstrating the principles of acid and their reaction with protein.
And I thought a great way to do that was with ceviche.
Traci, I did find it a very obvious demonstration when you think about acid and the first thing that comes into that light bulb for me is lemon juice and raw fish.
You were the only one who had something that was flavor to play with of all of these five elements.
I wish you'd showed the flavor piece of acid.
I would have liked to see, you know, tamarind, yuzu, sumac.
Yeah, that's a really good point.
I thought about it.
We actually tasted through a bunch-- I have a bunch of different vinegars and acids back in my pantry.
You really had done your homework, but we didn't necessarily get to experience it today.
Thank you for your comments.
Please return to the wine room while the critics make their final decision.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
I think it's gonna be me.
They thought it was too complicated.
Like, I had shown it in too many different ways, and you hadn't-- and I hadn't shown it enough.
I mean, we were supposed to appeal to 17-year-olds on a science experiment, and I definitely did that.
I'm sorry, but-- - Well, and I guess I didn't.
I've got to say, that was one of the most unusual challenges that we've had.
If I never eat out of a petri dish again, that would be an okay thing, so I know, I know, especially that salad, you know, that Hugh gave us.
It was just messy and difficult to balance even.
His was the least ambitious.
I mean, I felt like he really mailed it in.
My biggest gripe really was the mayonnaise was almost an afterthought in the dish.
And then there was that over-breaded, chewy okra.
That cornmeal breading, it was almost like sand.
I felt that Traci's food was very smart food.
The ceviche itself, God, whatever.
It just really--it wasn't that delicious for me.
And it didn't really demonstrate the principle of acidity as it interacts with a protein.
It didn't, I'm sorry.
It was very obvious.
Lemon is the first thing you think of acid in, and there is a cornucopia of different examples of acid, and I'd have liked to have seen more.
Now, when it comes to Naomi's demonstration, I just want to know whether I missed the demonstration or whether she wasn't doing one.
Because all that she really had were the different doughs that you could go up and check the gluten content of the different flours.
Unfortunately the gelee made Naomi's dough soggy rather than crisp, so you lost any pleasure of biting into something crunchy and then something gooey.
God, it's true, that melting gelee did really spurt in your mouth in the most unpleasant way.
Well, it sounds like you guys have come to a consensus on what was your least favorite dish.
- Yes.
- Yes, I think so.
- Yeah.
- I'll go and get the chefs.
Naomi, Hugh, Traci, unfortunately you served the critics' least favorite dishes tonight, and one of you will be eliminated.
Naomi, the explanation of elasticity did feel a little muddy.
Hugh, the emulsion wasn't highlighted as well as it could have been.
And all we had was a bunch of greens and a piece of fried okra.
Traci, in many ways you had the easiest principle to understand, and I would have liked you to dig a little deeper and do something a little more interesting.
And the chef who will be leaving us tonight Is Hugh.
All good.
You've done a fantastic job throughout the competition.
You've cooked some beautiful food.
It's all been fun.
You managed to win $15,000 for your charity, Wholesome Wave.
Congratulations.
Well, thanks.
Hugh, please return to the kitchen and pack your knives.
Naomi and Traci, you can return to your fellow chefs.
Thank you.
Thank you all.
Thank you.
One of us has to go home, so to me it's a great honor to have been here, and it was a lot of fun.
And it's for good charities, and that's what we're here for.
Whoo.
I'm outta here.
All good.
It's been a pleasure.
- All good.
- We're gonna miss you.
Who's gonna keep us laughing? The laugh machine.
I'll send you snippets of laughter.
It's been fun to show off and have fun with it.
I hope that shows through to everyone, and I think it did.
Have fun in it.
Enjoy each other.
- We'll miss you.
- Okay.
What I've found with food is that it's a beautiful thing for me.
What you want in life is to have a career that's an endless topic, and I can learn about food every day, every day of my life.
Good luck.
Enjoy it.
Bye, Hugh.
Next time on Top Chef Masters Well, can you cook? - Is it down below? - Yes! Okay, you're going too fast.
They're just slow.
- Okay, listen.
- I'm listening.
Naomi's screaming at this person.
It's kind of appalling.
I already told you, a half an inch wide.
I don't know what's going on with this guy.
No, taste it! Ahh! [Cheers and applause.]
Welcome home, everyone.
I've never tasted anything like this.
The ribs was great.
I don't know what that sauce was she put on 'em.
- A little piece to remind you-- - that's awesome.
But I really appreciate everything you did for me and how much you mean.
When you get a gift from someone and it means a lot to them, it should mean a lot to you too.
For more information on Top Chef Masters, visit bravotv.
com.