HOLLYWOOD—I really have enjoyed watching the cooking competition series, “America’s Culinary Cup.” it is something different and I like seeing chefs cook that I don’t know, it doesn’t hurt to see Padma Lakshimi as host.
We have a final 3 that I didn’t expect with Cara, Matt and Chris cooking for that million-dollar prize. The biggest I can recall seeing in a culinary competition. Chris many expected to be out quite some time ago, but he was the only person to get a perfect score on a dish all season. Matt is this chef with such prestige that I thought he might not make it there, but Cara is the underdog who has proved to be a super dark horse.
There were 3 additional guest judges with Eric Ripert, Suzanne Goin and Daniela Soto-Innes. The final Commandment of the competition was, Innovation. Take iconic dishes and elevate them to new heights. The chefs are forced to reinvent classic dishes from these iconic chefs. Wow, talk about pressure people, because the chef with the lowest score is out after this first round.
Cara received rave reviews for her innovative dish involving salmon courtesy of Eric Ripert. Chris was obviously struggling as his egg yolks might hurt him when it comes to presentation. Editing is always frustrating me on these competition shows because they are edited in a way that makes things so obvious who survives, and who doesn’t. It takes the fun out of watching. The judging for Chris’ dish was far more impressive than I expected with just one complaint on his rice.
Matt’s Tex-mex BBQ take on lamb belly was something not expected and received more critiques than the other chefs. Innovative? Matt absolutely nailed it if you ask me. The scores were announced with the two chefs moving forward being: Cara who earned 113 points to garner first place; that was her first victory all season. I feel she’s the sleeper contestant. So Matt or Chris is about to have their dreams sliced? In the end, it was Chris who edged out Matt by 5 points, scoring 108 to 103. It was heartbreaking to see Matt go considering his caliber, but I was also happy to see Chris who has been the underdog all season get some validation.
These are actually two people I’ve wanted to see make it to the end. Chris took out Buda last week and now Matt this week. So, the final challenge of the season is for the chefs to cook their food. The final challenge is a three-course meal putting their personal story on the plate. The past, the present and the future. They also get to compete alongside their sous chefs, with Beverly returning by Cara’s side, with Chris bringing a chef that helped him win a Michelin Star.
I do like that Cara is doing a dessert, whereas Chris is not. When I think of a three-course meal, I do think appetizer, entree and dessert. Chris won kudos for his pistachio soup, but that saffron cracker was a bit much. Cara on the other hand presented a trio of dumplings that hand a standout with her sticky rice, but her soup dumpling was not as flavorful. Both Cara and Chris got critiques on their second course, but Cara’s criticism seemed a bit stronger than Chris. You already take a risk cooking a dish one of the judges cherishes, which Padma liked, but she didn’t love it.
For their final dish, both chefs were paying homage to their children for the future. Chris did seem to receive more critiques on his final dish compared to his first two dishes from the guest judges. Cara got high marks for her final dish which was quite innovative with tea and mochi dumplings. The final scoring was super close, only a difference of 4 points. Yeah, that is super-duper close.
So much to the point that I can see either one of them winning. When the score board revealed the winner (yeah, it was fun the first go around, but got annoying as the season progressed, it was Cara Stradler, who I thought wasn’t going to win. Chris just seemed to have that underdog spirit that I thought was going to carry him to the victory.
I am hoping that we get another season of “America’s Culinary Cup.” This series I thoroughly enjoyed because it was something quite different to say the least.
