I think this is the first show all season where three chefs from the same city competed in the same episode (you’d think they’d be spread out a bit more), along with one based in the north.  Two of the Toronto guys worked at downtown restaurants (Shangri-La and Jump), while the other Toronto guy was from Dish Studio.  Judges last night were Lynn Crawford, Chuck Hughes and Vikram Vij.

Mortadella

For the appetizer round, the four contestants were to make a dish using chicken wings, mortadella (a thick ham), ice cream cones and arugula.  I thought it was interesting that three of them opted to crush the cones to use as a crust for the wings.  I personally would have gone a different direction (either summer rolls or something more basic, like serving deboned wings, mortadella and arugula in the cone itself), but I guess the contestants thought otherwise.  One contestant made fennel and coriander spiced wings with a mortadella hash.  One of the judges liked his use of salsa verde, but felt that the dish itself was a bit rushed.  Another made a hoisin sauced glazed wings with a mortadella argula salad.  Lynn Crawford loved the glaze (a good balance of “heat” and sweetness), but Chuck Hughes thought that the East Asian-ness of the wings and the Italian influenced salad were an odd mix (I’m personally unsure about that, but oh well).  I found that comment interesting, as another chef also accompanied his Asian inspired wings with an argula salad, yet HE was not criticized for the same reason (instead, judges noted that the wings were a bit too big and the fact that he wasn’t too creative).  The fourth chef (the one from the north), who accompanied his fried wings with a mortadella and mushroom salad, however, was told his wings were too undercooked (i.e. not edible) and was, therefore chopped (kind of obvious).

The Toronto-only second round required the contestants to use ribeye steak, Neapolitan wafers, maple syrup and frozen edamame.  Sounds absolutely delicious!  One chef marinated the steak with the maple syrup and grilled it.  The edamame was puréed and served with roasted potatoes.  However, while Chuck enjoyed the steak and Vikram Vij loved his presentation (looked like a sunflower opening on the plate), the potatoes were undercooked.  The second chef also made a grilled steak with maple and edamame purée, but served it with a hash of bacon, sweet potatoes and wafers. One of the judges said that he was a bit “nervous” about the contestant carving the steak so soon, but it still worked.  He was also criticized for taste – the hash was seen as being too sweet (because of the wafers) and another judge thought that the dish could have been a bit spicier.  The third chef seared the steak in its own fat, along with the edamame and attempted to serve the dish with rösti. Unfortunately, it wasn’t cooked very well – even after he attempted to fry it.  This was his downfall – the judges had very high expectations.

Shiso leaves

For dessert, the two finalists were to use Shiso leaves, cottage cheese, Asian pears and mace.  The first remaining contestant wanted to make an Asian pear and mace clafouti (similar to a souflé).  However, he didn’t have enough eggs, so the dish was a little bit…deflated and looked more like a frittata (judges called it an omelette, but omelettes are folded.  This was open-faced, baked, so it was more frittata-like).  However, the judges loved the taste, which had hints of vanilla and had a gorgeous presentation.  The berry and shiso sauce was also given positive reviews.  The other contestant made Asian pears, two ways (poached pears and caramelized pears with cottage cheese).  Presentation wasn’t that great, in fact, it looked fairly messy (Vikram said it looked like “murky water”), but taste-wise was fairly positive, especially the caramelized pears.  This was the chef who won for the episode (a little bit surprised, I think).

(Note: Last night’s episode was originally billed as the season finale, but it looks like there’s another block.  Not sure if it’s technically still season 1 or if it’s season 2)).

Image credits: Mortadella: By ehud (Flickr) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons; Shiso Leaves via WikiCommons