Finale Part Two - Durian is “featured” in the Quickfire. They have 30 minutes to make a dish using the stinkiest fruit that is banned in airports, hotels, and other public places. Kelsey knows she’s not going to win: “I will not win this one because you can’t make a dish you love out of something you hate.”
Sara’s and Michelle’s dishes are deemed the best, with Michelle’s dish of espuma of chilled durian with ceviche-style shrimp drew on the fruit’s sweet and savory elements winning the QF. She gets an extra hour of prep for the EC.
EC is to be inspired by the Macanese people and how they preserve their unique heritage of blending cuisines, including Portugese, Chinese and Indian flavors, through food. Padma tells them to look to their own heritage and make a dish that’s reflective of that but with Chinese ingredients. Prior to that, they get to have lunch at Restaurant Litoral, a well-known Macanese restaurant that’s one of chef Abraham Conlon (owner of Fat Rice in Chicago) favorites in the country. They arrive to see their mothers (and Eric’s sister) who are there to enjoy lunch with them. The chef/owner, Maneula Ferreira, makes some amazing dishes for them all: stewed tamarind pork, fried crab, housemade shrimp paste, Macanese samosas and minchee, a ground beef or pork dish been cooked with molasses and soy sauce.
They enjoy lunch, finding out everyone’s heritages and inspirations (Eric’s influence from Ghana, Michelle’s California cuisine by way of Mexico and Italy, Kelsey’s Cajun-influenced southern and Sara’s Kentucky dishes influenced by her Jewish heritage) and then have 30 minutes to shop with their parents/sister for ingredients for their dishes.
The next day, Michelle gets her hour head start on prep, which she needs because she’s making a very detailed dish. The others come in and do their thing.
The chefs begin to serve - and are each told by Padma that they can sit down to enjoy the meal with the judges and their family member. That would be nerve-wracking!
(info borrowed from F&W):
Michelle Minori
Dish: “Cioppino” seafood, beans and chorizo
The judges thought exactly what I did when I saw the cioppino - there’s no broth. They (judges) all seemed to like the individual components, but Tom says he didn’t get any Macanese inspiration.
Sara Bradley
Dish: Chicken thighs with matzo balls and savory mushroom consomme*
The matzo balls (actually ground up water crackers mixed with other ingredients) were perfectly cooked, and Sara really got the Macanese influence in her dish with the salty/spicy flavor of the broth. Tom’s wife is Jewish, so he makes Matzo Ball Soup every year, and he really like her version.
Eric Adjepong
Dish: Egusi stew with panko fried fufu dumpling and shrimp
The judges didn’t like the texture of the dish, especially the ground whole pumpkin seeds, which left some grit in the judges’ mouths.
Kelsey Barnard Clark
Dish: Low country boil with shrimp
Abe loved that she used dried scallops, the smoked oysters, the dried mushroom in her dish, but Padma said it was too strong to have a whole bowl of it. She thought it too salty, whereas Tom didn’t think it was salty at all.
Sara was the clear winner of the EC, with Tom saying "“You captured the essence of the dish and where we are.” and is on to the finale. And Michelle is the one who is told to PYKAG for not getting enough Chinese flavors into her dish.
So it seems there are THREE to cook in the finale, until Tom says “Only two of you will be cooking in the finale.” Dun dun DUUUUUNNNNN!!!
Next week’s finale is a 90 minute special, starting at 9:30 p.m. EDT.
