Just in case anyone wants to see how the cheftestants have done overall, Wikipedia gets updated after each episode. Here’s a chart.
Eric’s had 3 Wins, 2 Highs.
Kelsey, Michelle and Sarah have all had 1 Win, with Sara having 4 Highs and Kelsey 2 Highs. Adrienne has only had 4 Highs and no wins.
Having said that, Adrienne and Sara have also had 4 Lows, Michelle 2 Lows, Kelsey 1 Low, and Eric has never been in the Low group.
I don’t even remember the cheftestants being assigned a garden space. Did we ever see any of them planting anything, or working in their gardens? I have no memory of anything like this, and I would have liked to see them gardening.
It was what seemed to be a throw away short sequence when they first got to the house - planting a row in a garden in the backyard of the mansion.
But - didn’t they say in the “harvest” segment that it was like 30 days later? Now I’m no master gardener, but I don’t think those vegetables go from seed to harvest in 30 days. There were a few things that they planted from starter plants, but they were also seen planting seeds . . . . the whole thing is a cute idea but very very suspect . . . .
Haha exactly my thoughts on the fully grown gardens!
Thanks, Linda!
I’m not a fan of Adrienne’s. And why does she call everyone Mama? I’m not sure who I’d like to see win at this point.
The mama thing annoys me too.
The teaser for the first challenge in Macao makes it look like Michelle will progress. Kelsey too. Anyone else?
it’s not just Sara? I thought it was Sara into being the comforting nurturer and was into people calling her mama (except when she’s upset). You think it’s an Adrienne quirk?
Maybe she thinks it’s cool.
I think she calls the actual mother in the group “mama”
Ive heard others do it, too
I’ve heard her call more than one woman in the group mama. Maybe it’s just because there is something about her I really don’t like.
And Ive heard a bunch of them call the blond chef “mama”
Admittedly, Im rooting for her because she is a chef at one of my favorite places ….
I wonder if there are box mixes or other premade ingredients that the final edit doesn’t highlight because the contestant didn’t get eliminated for them…
Favorite line from last episode;
"She gave me a bag with white stuff in it, so…could be anything! "
I liked that line too. I can’t imagine shopping in that type of market with no interpreter but they seemed to do alright. I wish they would hav spent a little more time really showing the market and food items. The eel lady was one of my favorites too - no hesitation with that cleaver.
So the challenge was to cook for 200 - did it look to anyone else like there were maybe 50 people in that room for the challenge?
I wasn’t shocked by who was told to PYKAG. I’m still rooting for Michelle right now.
I like Padma - so no complaint about her in particular - but I really dislike when the hosts of these challenge shows decide to be super opinionated judges - That is why these shows have well seasoned, respected judges. When the host feels they are on equal footing with the judges it suggests to me that the show is saying any random person’s opinion is the same as the trained professionals. Maybe that is one reason I like the dynamic on The Great British Baking Show - the hosts are hosts, rooting for the contestants and the judges are judges . . . . doesn’t matter how long the hosts have been on the show, they are still hosts . . .
Also, that shot of Eric when Padma says she’s surprised he didn’t go harder with the spice. They did seem a bit combative, more than one of them did, but I can imagine it was different from the way it was (edited).
Eric’s snails; “Are they tender?”…“has a little chew”…“A cross between a chewy and rubbery” …“a bit like duck tongue…”
Nor was I. And I’m still rooting for Eric out of these final 4.
Sorry about no recap - 1st of the month means billing hell - just taking a quick break now to read.
But here are couple of recaps that are always good reading (and the F&W one is where I’ve been getting my dish descriptions):
Macau is awesome, so I’m really excited about seeing the rest of the episodes here. I would have liked to see more of the actual local Macanese cuisine rather than just focus on the traditional Cantonese traditions.
I was a little puzzled by some of the reactions from the chef – questioning if they were “faked for tv”. Some of the wonders like going to a wet market and seeing live seafood felt like it was amping up the exotic factor. It’s not like they were selling worms and aliens for food. You’d think these chefs never saw a live fish or clam before. Isn’t going through a farm or a place with super fresh seafood kind of a given for this caliber of cooking?! And then the squeamish factor of the woman cutting the eel – really?!? Maybe not every one has prepared eel yet, but isn’t cutting into a fish or chicken or other live protein something you really need to be familiar with? Why the faux gag/shocked faces? I was more grossed out by the hacksaw and the giant side of beef than I was with the fish and eel.
