This week on Top Chef Boston the finals are taking place in Mexico. It is now down to Doug, Mei and Gregory to battle it out for the winning position as Top Chef of the season. Mei stated she was disappointed in herself over her performance in the kitchen last week and that she needs and wants to win for herself and Melissa, who was eliminated last week.
Doug then said that the atmosphere between himself Mei and Gregory has become intense as they live under the same roof until the competition is over.
The chefs arrived at a vegetable farm to cook for its executive chef. Padma then announced that that this is going to be the last quickfire challenge this season. The chefs were then tasked with creating a dish using Chapolote, a.k.a. Mexican chocolate. They were then told they have to make two chocolate dishes; one that is sweet and one that is savory, both using Chapolote. The chefs were also tasked with gathering their own ingredients from the vegetable farm. They were also presented with a chocolate table featuring various types of chocolate.
Mei said it was important to make sure the flavor of the chocolate was properly balanced with the other flavors in her dishes. She also said she needs to win because she needs Melissa by her side for the next challenge and the winner of the quickfire challenge gets the sous chef of their choice from the other chefs who have competed this season.
Mei presented a chocolate yogurt with fresh mint for her dessert dish. Doug made white chocolate whipped cream for his dessert, which Gregory implied wasn’t going to be good enough for the judges.
Doug presented his seared hen dish with chocolate on the side. He presented a bowl of melted chocolate for his dessert and said that he had hit a wall with this quickfire challenge.
Gregory made seared lamb with white chocolate sauce and vinagerette. His dessert was carrots blended with ginger and rosemary as well as chocolate.
Doug was praised for his dish being cooked but told his flavors weren’t well balanced. Gregory’s lamb seemed to please the judges. It was then announced that Gregory won the quickfire challenge because his lamb was cooked perfectly. This gave Gregory the option of choosing his own sous chef for the elimination challenge.
The three remaining chefs were then told they had to work together to make a six course meal using Mexican ingredients, which is the final elimination challenge of the season. The chefs were then sent to shop for the ingredients they would need. It was announced that their sous chefs could both shop and cook with them, Gregory got first pick of sous chefs and he chose George. Mai then choose Melissa as her sous chef and Doug chose Katsuji as his.
After seeing the ingredients they have to use in their dishes Doug said he is screwed for this challenge. As they drove to the store they discussed what they might want to prepare the next day. This helped them determine the ingredients they need before they even got to the store.
Doug went on a frantic search for ant eggs to use in one of the dishes. He then joked that he picked Katsuji as his sous chef because Katsuji speaks Spanish. Mei said she was excited to be working with a type of fungus to add to one of their dishes.
Mei talked about the fact that if she wins this competition her family will finally be proud of her.
Each chef had to make two of the six dishes they would be serving for the Elimination Challenge. Gregory chose guava to use in his first dish because it makes for a tart and spicy soup. Mai made the second course, which included avocado, pears and guacamole. Doug did espinoles and Mexican cheese. He also made Spanish tortillas with ant eggs. Mai made the fourth course and had Melissa making pasta for it. Gregrory did Poblano for the fifth course and said he wanted to represent it as best he could. The last course was a cheese dish made by Doug.
Gregory said the keyt to success was starting the meal with a very memorable dish. The first course was then presented by Gregory. His chilled guava soup with bay scallops was deemed to have a fresh taste and a good balance of flavors. Tom also said the texture of the soup was very good. Mei then expressed her fear that her guacamole dish may be too simple for the judges. The judge declared that the avocado was sliced beautifully but they wanted some of the flavors to be stronger than they were.
As Doug presented his dish he explained that he felt the need to make tortillas. The judges did say they wanted the dish to be more flavorful and that the texture was not prominent enough in the dish.
Mei then presented her dish and the judges said the flavor was great and the pasta was well made.
Gregory said it was important to nail his second course after having such success with the first one. He then presented his second course to the judges. The flavor and texture of his dish were praised by many of them.
Doug then presented his final course with cheese, charred pickles and chips. He was told that his cheese dish was far from boring and that this was quite an accomplishment because many cheese dishes are boring.
After trying all six courses the judges discussed their compliments and complaints about the dishes that were made. Mei was praised for making an original and interesting dish and Padma said it was one of the strongest dishes they had tasted so far.
Upon arriving at the judges table Tom praised the chefs and Padma picked their brains. It turns out Gregory is going to the finals and Mei is going with him.