I think out of the 20 shows so far, combinations last night were one of the tamest. In addition to the yeast extract, contestants were required to use mussels, instant coffee and portobello mushrooms for the appetizer round. The dishes weren’t all that innovative. All four of them went a traditional route and steamed the mussels. One chef, who was originally from Japan, used the yeast extract as sort of a miso-like paste and served it with coffee glazed mussels and mushrooms. Though coffee was definitely in the dish, the chefs thought that it a strong enough taste. However, they did like the use of the extract. Another chef made sweet and hot mussels with coffee glazed mushrooms. Judges liked his use of coconut milk and that it had excellent flavour. However, there was just a bit too much liquid. One judge commented on how she wished there was some bread to sop everything up. A third chef did include bread, making white wine mussels with coffee crostini, which the bread-loving judge liked (though he was criticized for being too “expected”) while the fourth was the most boring – mussels and frites. The frites were more like potato wedges, without any crispiness to them. In addition, he used too much coffee, making the dish very bitter. He was chopped.
Yeast extract
For the second round, the contestants had to use ground pork, orange juice crystals (yuck), broccoli and celery salt. The ingredients were quite simple this time around, even with the disgusting drink crystals. One chef made a gigantic scotch egg – about the size of a soft ball – using the orange drink and pork, while the broccoli was made into a ragout. Judges, of course, commented on the size of the dish, but at the same time, thought the ragout was not that great and one indicated that she could not taste the orange crystals. The remaining two each made some sort of pork patty. One added grapes to his, accompanying it with a green goddess sauce (judges thought that the broccoli was used well in the sauce and one liked the crust on the pork. However, another commented on the usage of grapes in the meat) while another made a pork and celery salt patty with two sauces – one made with orange crystals and the other with broccoli. Judges loved the dish’s presentation, but thought that the broccoli was missing, that the chef barely used it. He was chopped.
The dessert round consisted of plantains, palm sugar, spruce tips and cream cheese. It was very interesting what one of the chefs decided to do – a microwave sponge cake. Yes, you heard right. MICROWAVE. The kind of stuff you put in coffee cups and cook in the microwave. A dessert an eight year old can make (okay, kids use mixes, but you get my drift). He cooked some items on the stove – the plantains, for example, as well as the spruce tips, which were mixed with almond butter and mango. The cake, however, was very kid-like. And yes, judges commented on the presentation and “rubberiness” of the cake. They also thought the plantains were a bit too starchy. The other finalist was originally going to make a cheesecake, but the batter was too runny. At last minute, he decided to turn it into ice cream and making brittle with the spruce tips. Judges liked the dish over all, though one thought that the ice cream was a bit too cheesy. Despite that issue, this contestant was crowned winner!
Yeast extract image credit: By SKopp (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons