Top Chef 5/5/22--"Dinner in Zero Gravity" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: the chefs had to make dishes with vegetables in single colors. It was just weird, but interesting. Better than product placement. Damarr won, although he did have green so it wasn't super hard? Then everyone had to make soul food, but it could be whatever spoke to them personally. Didn't have to be traditional American soul food. Jae made a delicious Korean dish and won. Luke fried some meatballs and they were hard to eat so he was sent home. Is it because Tom and the other judges don't get other cultures so even though it was accurate, they didn't get it? I don't know in this case but in the past I do think that's affected other people so it's possible. (click for more)

On Last Chance Kitchen, we finally got the blind taste test. Sarah got twice as many spices as Luke, and then of course they had to cook with those spices. Luke failed to put any salt in his dish until the last minute, which screwed up his seasoning so he lost. Tom said that next week Sarah will have the chance to reenter the competition.

Padma has left everyone a note to meet her at the farmer's market. Evelyn says it's like every Mexican market. Padma meets them in the back with Claudette. Interesting. The Quickfire today is to shop and cook at the farmer's market. Padma tries to make them guess what popular dish was invented here? No one wants to just start guessing, so she says it's fajitas. Shop anywhere in the market, but make fajitas. Also Chipotle has provided proteins. First of all, why can't they buy proteins from the farmer's market? Secondly, don't try to tell me Chipotle is all about responsible consumption. The winner will get $10,000. Nick says his nickname is “The Mississippi Baker” because he's won the most bread this season. Interesting.

45 minutes for both shopping and cooking. Damarr knows dividing your time between shopping and cooking is going to be key. Jae is making Korean crepes so she needs a bunch of time. Evelyn says she has to make a good fajita platter or her mom will yell at her. Some people are making tortillas and some people are buying them. Buddha says something about corn. He is one of the ones who bought fajitas. Ashleigh spends over 15 minutes shopping. Evelyn and Nick gently trash talk each other about winning money. Damarr has some Caribbean flavors. Ashleigh only has 25 minutes to cook. She misses her girlfriend, who knows Tex-Mex. Jae says she's making gochujang crepes with tomatillo, and grilled pineapple and tofu. That sounds good. There is more frantic cooking than usual. Jae doesn't get all her crepes on the plates. Ashleigh also doesn't finish, and she says “that's crazy” as if she didn't screw herself by shopping for too long.

Jae: gochujang and tomatillo crepes with stir-fried tofu, peppers, onions and pineapple salsa. Evelyn: beef fajitas marinated in papalo, lime and fish sauce with poblano, salsa verde and rambutan pico. Papalo is an herb kind of like cilantro and arugula. Rambutan is an Asian fruit. Damarr: seared steak, mango relish, purslane salad and grated chicharron. Purslane is a succulent which I think you forage. Chicharron is pork rinds. Nick: tri-tip, cabbage, and black bean braise, jicima slaw and lime cilantro cream with corn tortillas. Buddha: beef fajita with corn and avocado crema. Ashleigh: chicken fajitas with cheese crust, nopal and pickled onions. Nopal is cactus.

Padma says that Damarr's dish was too thick? It was unbalanced. Of course Ashleigh didn't finish (and her cheese crust was hard to dig through) and neither did Jae. Nick incorporated all his ingredients well. Buddha had flavorful corn. Evelyn correctly used papalo. The winner is Nick. He has won $35,000 on this show so far.

For the Elimination Challenge, Marcus Samuelsson is here. He mentions NASA. Padma says they'll have to think “like a food scientist” and create a dish for astronauts. Are we actually making a dish that will go into space? Or is this like the product placement “the winning dish will inspire a flavor” bullshit? Anyway, Padma points out that eating in space presents unique challenges because of the lack of gravity, meaning no crumbs or loose sauces. Marcus says they're all going to NASA for a meeting. Nice. Jae interviews that she always wanted to be an astronaut. 2.5 hours to prep and cook for the judges and three retired astronauts. The winning dish will “inspire” a dish that will be sent into space. I told you. “Inspire”.

NASA is cool, but you could have guessed that. There are rockets and real astronauts and everything. This is tied into a Mars mission, where good food will be important. I am pretty sure a Mars mission will be up to a year? It's very long. They talk to a food scientist, who says the ISS has about 200 different foods and beverages. They all eat some samples. They don't have a lot of salt, because salt makes bone loss worse. There are other spices to compensate. You can't have crumbs so they use nuts for texture. Evelyn is thinking about Mexican food, because she says there isn't much on the menus they had. Everyone goes to a theater so they can watch Melissa talk to the astronauts on the ISS. Oh they also get to talk to them, not just Melissa. They do some tricks with spinning and like, catching food, it's very gimmicky but I'm sure they learned something.

Back home they eat product placement ice cream and think about how so few of them are left. Ashleigh says she's worked very hard in this industry with not much to show for it. She's worked hard for other peoples' restaurants. She's here to win the title for herself.

Shopping time. Damarr is thinking comfort food, but also remembering the astronauts said they use a lot of hot sauce. Buddha says pavlova. Ashleigh says “ceviche” but you can't take raw fish into space? Maybe “tinned fish reimagined”?

They come back into the Top Chef kitchen and there is mood lighting. As in, on the shelves there are those immersion things you use for sous vide, but they have colored lights. Also the table is set for the judges to eat in the kitchen, so that's cool. It's all dark mood lighting and like, a replica Mars rover. Buddha says it's like cooking on the moon, speaking of the moon, his dish is based on the moon so it's like they'll be eating on the moon? He's going all out. His pavlova is somehow a take on Alan Shepard playing golf on the moon. Sure. Evelyn calls it “spaceballs” and says it's exactly what she expects him to do: use weird powders and be a scientist. Evelyn is making guiso rojo which is pork and chili stew. Traditional stew is too thin for space. Jae is making bulgogi. Can you take rice? Is it too small? Damarr has rice too so I guess it's fine. He is holding some things back, to wow people in the finale, but if you hold too much back then you get eliminated. Nick throws a whole spatchcocked chicken on the grill. He has his own spin on gumbo. Ashleigh says hot sauce ceviche, but with poached seafood. Jae isn't making rice after all, but barley, so she won't risk mushy rice. She seems to be headed for the weeds. Buddha is making golf balls will filling and he says meringue is basically freeze dried already. Lot of people cooking rice. Damarr has overcooked his first batch of rice so he has to start over. Ashleigh is packing her seafood in a tin, because she wants the diners to eat it the way they would in space, by spooning sauce over the fish.

Evelyn: guiso rojo with pork, pumpkin seed rice and escabeche. Buddha: “Apavlova 14”--coconut mousse with berry compote and tropical salsa. So the mousse is the golf ball, with the compote inside. Then there are shards of meringue around it, which to me violates the “no crumbs” rule. Also what evil person made Buddha serve his dessert second? Come on. Evelyn's dish has great flavor and spices, and it's not too heavy. And it has texture. The dessert is fun and it does taste good. Tom says it's fun but he seems like he's about to say “but it's boring” or something. They cut him off before he can say anything negative.

Ashleigh has a pair of shears on each plate. Ashleigh: marinated tuna and shrimp with sweet potato slaw. The slaw is in vacuum sealed pouches, and she tells everyone to cut the pouches open with the shears to pour over the fish, which is in a can. Nick: Mississippi gumbo with collard greens, butter beans, black-eyed peas, chicken, okra and rice. Ashleigh's whole dish is fun, but maybe she focused too much on presentation. It's not seasoned because the piece of tuna was too big. Nick's gumbo is great and they love it.

Jae isn't super happy with her dish but she says it tastes fine. Damarr has overcooked his rice again and he's embarrassed. Jae: bulgogi with gochujang barley, sesame mushrooms and carrots. Damarr: chicken gravy with rice and hot pickled peppers. Jae's barley is weird; it's an interesting idea but undercooked. The beef is mushy. Damarr's peppers are the only flavor in the dish, and they know the rice is overcooked.

Judges' Table. Evelyn, Buddha, and Nick are the top three. Evelyn wanted to do a pork dish, and something comforting. It was the best rice of the day, and it was very well seasoned. Buddha made something interactive and he put a lot of thought into each element. It had technique but was not gimmicky. Nick showed everyone Mississippi gumbo, which was something new for the judges. It was delicious. The winner is Buddha. Hmm. I don't agree but sure. He says it shows he's here to win.

Ashleigh, Jae, and Damarr are the bottom three. Ashleigh had a great presentation, but the dish itself held back. She poached the tuna in coconut water instead of oil, so it wasn't moist. Plus she didn't cook it all the way through. Jae admits she wasn't super happy with her dish. The beef was mushy, and Tom says that there was parsnip puree that was both grainy and soggy. The barley was undercooked, but she says it's what she wanted. Damarr knows his rice was overcooked. The pickles were good, but other than that it was a lackluster dish. Damarr tells the judges he made a huge mistake, but he's not a guy that makes the same mistake over and over.

Ashleigh at least tried to be creative. Damarr was boring in comparison. And it was bland. Marcus tries to argue that Jae tried to be creative, but Tom says the only creative thing was putting nuts in barley. The dish had two components and they both were off. Gail didn't eat any of the bulgogi. Well, enough to taste it, but she left most of it on the plate.

Tom goes on some random tangent about imagining flying? And then training to be a chef? But keep that thought to push through? I don't know. Jae is eliminated. She wasn't proud of her dish today. It's been a journey, and she's worked hard. She will always demand more from herself.

Next week: cooking in a home kitchen, family style, Buddha makes something rustic.

Last Chance Kitchen: Sarah has made it a long way. It's the finale of Last Chance Kitchen. Jae was disappointed in herself in the last challenge, but she really wants to represent herself with her best dish. When she walks in, she's doing like, finger guns to everyone. Heh. Sarah's surprised to see her.

Tonight Tom says they're here to test textures. The challenge is to feature what Tom calls the “Three C's”: creamy, chewy, and crunchy. Hmm. Then he alludes to some “layers of complexity” which is of course accompanied by the “oh shit” music sting. Sarah says she is Charlie Brown and Tom has the football, but it's whatever because she just needs to win. He's not judging this one. He has “a panel of culinary experts” waiting. Sarah hopes it's not children because they are brutal. “Have you ever fed a child?” Heh. It's not the peanut gallery because Tom says it'll be a blind tasting. So you have to make six plates.

30 minutes to cook. Sarah doesn't want to get this far and then lose at the last minute like she lost to Ashleigh. Jae has grabbed andouille sausage...for “creamy”? Andouille emulsion? Sarah is making squash donuts but savory. I'd try that. Jae has a shrimp boil and she says that's the chewy part. Like chewy shrimp? I'm not sure about this idea. Sarah is adding tempura to her donut and some dried fruit. She shares a pro tip for cleaning out the squash but keeping it intact: just shove some tongs down the center. Also it's a signature dish at her restaurant. Jae has never made anything like this before. Also she confirms the shrimp is the chewy part. Sarah is making relish out of raisins and chilies. I think the squash tempura is crunchy and also the donut part she had mentioned at the beginning. She mentions finding squash seeds in the pantry, so she's adding those to the relish. Jae blends some roasted peppers for her emulsion.

Tom Time! Jae barely talks to him because she's really running around. He asks Sarah what she's up to and then wanders off. Jae's potatoes aren't crispy so she's putting them back in the fryer. Sarah has goat cheese and cream mixed together to make a creamy sauce. Jae took her shrimp off the stove after maybe 10 minutes, because she wanted to cook them gently. But now with six minutes left they are raw, so those have to go back on the stove. Sarah is confident, but Jae is frantic and the peanut gallery is freaking out on her behalf.

Tom makes them bring the dishes up, then Jae, Sarah, and the peanut gallery have to leave. The “tasting panel” is actually the five remaining contestants. Tom collects them from the Stew Room and says he needs their help. Evelyn thinks they might be recreating the dishes, maybe this is a challenge. Yeah I could see how I would think that. He does quickly tell them they're judging, so they don't freak out. Damarr says it's uncomfortable but it's better than cooking right now. Sarah: crispy delicata squash with chevre and spicy raisin relish. Jae: shrimp boil with andouille potato emulsion, okra kimchi and celery pickles. They taste everything and then they vote. Everyone comes back in, and they find out it's Jae and Sarah. Evelyn wishes she could cheat and vote for Jae. They're all shocked to see Sarah. Sarah and Jae describe their dishes, so now everyone knows who they voted for. Jae's dish was bright and spicy, and she got the three C's in there. Sarah also got the three components and it's great. Tom says it's not up to him, it's up to the remaining contestants. Jae says “these bitches!” and then laughs maniacally. But whoever got the most votes isn't the winner, because the challenge isn't over yet. Tom wanted to bring in one more person, which is Shota. Shota!! Yay!

Anyway, Tom talks about the vast array of different challenges and chefs they've seen. But they all had one thing in common: they all wish they had more time. True. No matter what else is going on, everyone has the same amount of time as the person next to them. Except when you don't. Ooooo. So the voting won't choose the winner, it will determine how much time you get. You know what, this is a better twist than making Sarah and Ashleigh switch stations. You gave yourself that much time. You won't have to cook with someone else's leftovers.

Make whatever you want, except you get an extra three minutes for each vote. Sarah is starting to freak out that she won't move on, while Jae is calmer. I'm not sure why we needed this twist but I'm not that mad about it. Unless it's because Jae struggled so much they needed another chance? But it could all be above board. Anyway, every single person chooses Sarah's dish. So maybe it is shenanigans? Sarah gets 45 minutes to cook, and Jae gets 30. Sarah is tired. Jae knows she can't make any mistakes. She just has to stand there and watch Sarah.

Damarr says that Sarah has more time, so they expect more from her. But she also has time to fix mistakes. She tells the peanut gallery that she's making gnocchi. They ask if she's made pasta during LCK before, and she says no. Jackson yells that he doesn't recommend it and they all laugh. Heh. Sarah's going to challenge herself. Jae sees an opportunity to keep it simple and stay calm. She is really weirdly calm. It's intimidating. Sarah's ricotta is wet, but she doesn't want to take the time to strain it so she's going to just go for it.

Jae finally gets to start, and she's spent that 15 minutes thinking about what she's making. She immediately grabs spaghetti squash, because it's going to take almost all her time to cook. She puts it in a regular oven, and Monique and Jackson discuss that it's not going to cook in there, and she should have put it in the wood-burning oven. Jae is also doing some fish, which she is very good at cooking. Simple but perfect. Sarah is making a simple tomato sauce, and she has no idea what Jae is doing but she doesn't have time to care. But she's a little worried that Jae has the freedom to make whatever, because she does well when that happens. Sarah has sardine and olive relish? Huh. Jae confirms to the peanut gallery that she wants her spaghetti squash to be crunchy. They are immediately worried, and Jo tells her that when HER squash was undercooked, she was eliminated for it, so maybe Jae should rethink that. But she's determined. She's also going to roast her fish with seven minutes left. Seven?! Jeez. Sarah is deep frying garlic and herbs. Jae burns herself on the squash but I think she's happy with it.

Tom Time! Jae immediately tells Tom she wants the squash crunchy, and he actually interrupts her to confirm this. Not the best sign. She wants to tell him to go away but it's rude. But he's not going to chop anything for her so he's just in the way. The clams were sandy, so she's just serving the broth. Sarah says her gnocchi aren't pretty, but they taste good. Tom goes over to her station and pokes the gnocchi dough and tells Shota it's really wet. Sarah asks if he's poking her dough and he's like, yeah I am. Nick is yelling advice and Sarah says it's nice to hear his voice. Everyone is so stressed.

Sarah: gnocchi pomodoro. There is also “a shitload of herbs”. Jae: sauteed snapper with spaghetti squash noodle salad in clam broth. The gnocchi is good, nicely made, and the flavors are good. Jae's dish is very simple but very clean. Tom tells everyone to be worried because these are good dishes. Tom and Shota go to the back of the room, but they play Shota's audio (with no names) as if everyone can hear him.

When Tom and Shota come back, Jae is eating some of her fish so she has to hurry and finish it. Heh. Both dishes were great, but there can be only one winner to go back to the competition. And that winner is Sarah. She's emotional. Jae is proud of herself and she's proud to go out on a dish she's happy with. The peanut gallery leaves, after hugging everyone. Sarah tied the record for the most wins in LCK. Evelyn says they'll have to watch out for her. Tom tells everyone to pack a bag to head to Galveston in the morning.