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“Top Chef: Texas” recap: Snakes, plates and quinceaneras
Who knew Padma had such a sense of humor?
Well, the best line of last night’s “Top Chef: Texas” episode, edited slightly for sensitive readers — “I better see some mothereffing snakes on some mothereffing plates” — was probably written by the producers, but Padma said it with such conviction that it was easily the highlight of the third episode.
This was the first episode with all 16 contestants competing in the traditional “Top Chef” format. (The first two episodes were dedicated to whittling down 29 contestants to the top 16, which included Uchiko’s Paul Qui. Andrew Curren of 24 Diner was among the 13 who lost in the first round, but he managed to hang on by a thread in the Last Chance Kitchen. More on that below.)
La Gloria chef Johnny Hernandez helped introduce the quickfire challenge to use snake meat. Qui produced a Asian barbecue snake that I thought easily looked the best of the bunch, but Hernandez didn’t like it. Dakota’s dish of beer-battered tempura snake ended up winning her immunity from elimination and a cash prize of $5,000. Not too shabby for the first quickfire, I’d say.
Snake was an interesting choice as the first quickfire, but it makes sense. Even though snake isn’t as prevalent in the Texas diet as its presence on the show might suggest, rattlesnake round-ups (and the subsequent dishes made from the harvested meat) are one of the fun, quirky things that happen in our great state, but they aren’t nearly as common as the focus of the main challenge: quinceañeras, the 15th birthday party celebrations that are a rite of passage for most girls in almost all Latin cultures.
The contestants had to cater for the quinceañera of sweet girl named Blanca. She told them what kinds of food she liked, and the teams tried to create a menu that appealed to her and her family.
It didn’t look good for contestant Keith as soon as he picked out precooked shrimp at the store. Adding insult to injury, his team served enchiladas made with premade flour tortillas, which clearly put them in the bottom of the heap.
Keith complained at the judge’s table that his teammates turned on him, using the old “they are throwing me under the bus” excuse, but they judges had no problem sending him home, or rather, to the new Last Chance Kitchen webisode series, which gives chefs who lose another chance to get back in the competition.
Clams were among the ingredients they had to use in a single dish, and though Andrew thought he had a strong dish, head judge Tom Colicchio ended up picking Keith’s dish as the winner, which officially ends Andrew’s stint on “Top Chef: Texas.” (Or so we think. They are always changing the game, so who knows if he’s really out for good.)
Photos from BravoTV.com.
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