Top Chef – WAT A TWIST!

Did anyone else think of M. Night Shyamalan and Robot Chicken with each surprise thrown at the chefs? Having chefs pick eachothers’ twists was a twist on itself , but to have then chose yet another twist in the middle of the quickfire was even more twisty (seriously, how can you not think of that Robot Chicken skit now?). Mike winning another quickfire pissed me off. I know he’s probably a good chef, but he’s just so obnoxious!

The “Last Supper” challenge has been done before, but it was cool to bring in new celebrity chefs. Antonia got Iron Chef Morimoto‘s bento box including sashimi, glazed rice and miso soup. Mike got Michelle Bernstein and her fried chicken and biscuits.

However, the dish that really mattered to me was the one Richard got: Wolfgang Puck‘s beef goulash with spätzle. I so very rarely get to see Germanic cuisine on cooking shows — I even had a chef in culinary school diss German cuisine to my face … yeah, not cool! Both my mom and my oma made goulash with egg noodles or spätzle since I was very, very little, and it is about the most delicious thing you can make me. I’m pretty sure my own last supper choice would be between their goulash or their rouladen. Actually, I think I’ll have to post their recipe onto CliqueClack Food in the next few weeks because it is just that good, people!

The other thing I must bring up is the pronunciation of “spätzle.” I’ve heard many different chefs pronounce it incorrectly, but Wolfgang made me very happy by pronouncing it the way all my German relatives say it. It’s “schpetz-lah”, not “spayt-zle” or “spat-zle.” Sadly, Richard said, “spat-zle.” Boo to that.

Anyway, Richard won (although they did complain that his spätzle were too dense). It was then between Antonia and Mike. I really thought Antonia was going home because there were just too many aspects of her bento box that were off. However, yet another twist! To decide the winner, they each had to made an amuse bouche — which means one bite. Antonia made a seared grouper with bold, almost overpowering flavors. Mike’s olive sauce worked well with the dish, but his beef tartar was a little bland.

I think in the end restraint won out, because Antonia was sent home. I’m not really happy about it, if only because Mike was being so rotten this episode. I will actually be shocked if Mike wins next week because Richard is the better chef. I’ll also be frustrated if Mike wins next week because he’s just … gah!

Clacked by Katie Schenkel
on Mar 24, 2011 @ 11:24 EST5EDT