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Food of the Gods
Gael Greene breaks down the competition as they create dishes inspired by Greek gods.
May 27, 2010There is still a lot of genuine camaraderie among the five surviving Top Chef Masters as they compete to see who has the keenest palate in tonight’s warmup competition. You can see it at the beginning this week And you see it at the end as they comfort each other after hearing our verdicts from the Critics' Table.
But each is already scheming to outwit the pack as they head toward Whole Foods to shop for the elimination challenge – cooking a dish fit for the Greek God fate has granted them.
Rick tries to goad himself with determination to make up for his earlier gaffs and fires himself up to devise a devilish dish for Hades, God of the Underworld. He has that satanic laugh done perfectly.
Marcus as the youngest decides youth is his best advantage cooking for Ares, God of War. He breaks into a dash racing across the market to get first choice at the butcher counter. But he loses that advantage when he wakes up with his back out and can scarcely lift a heavy skillet.
Susan is her usual cheerful self, marketing her Coconut jam toast as a surefire way to win Aphrodite, the God of Love and Sex. She is perhaps a little too hung up on the sex part, like a kitchen-wise Doctor Ruth, focusing on an egg, sweet butter, and ginger infused nectar as Aphrodisiacal foods.
Jonathan is more sure of himself than he was last week cooking scary exotica. He’s like a kid as he confesses to feeling lonely away from his family on his birthday. And like a kid, the surprise birthday cake quickly cheers him up. In a beat, he has decided on scallops as the key to a dish fit for Poseidon God of the Sea. And is it possible?…did the normally laidback Jonathan actually beat the crowd to corner all the scallops? I think he did.
It's funny how this turned out, because as she was prepping the dish, even the day of the tasting, I expected there to be more to that dish. I thought the idea of the egg and the toast and the soy and all else was going to yield a bigger result than it did. The meal looked great but in comparison to the KAPOW! that the others provided, Susan's final product did unfortunately pale in comparison. Still, it apparently tasted great, but the problem here was that all the chefs had good food. In this case, the simplicity was her downfall. She was fun to watch and I'm hoping for the finale we'll see some of the ladies back in some capacity!
Dear Gael,
Once again, your comments satisfy this viewer! I completely called the results. I knew Susan would be eliminated because at that level, who cares about a sandwich with a side of fried egg? I wouldn't have bothered to try it. Rick's dish was colorful and interesting. However, it's disappointing that he overcooked the swordfish. For a self proscribed "Fish Expert", he hasn't perfected his technique. Really, I expected these "top chefs" to nail the QF "name the ingredients" challenge. They weren't as proficient as the regular season's TC cheftestants. I'm still rooting for Susur. His food looks beautiful and the judges proclaim it's perfect or delicious most of the time.
The statement, "simple is at the very least naive" leaves a pretty bitter taste in my mouth. I have to disagree.
I love Top Chef Masters and thank you for blogging every week. I hated to see Susan go, she seemed to bring a fun dynamic to the group without trying to hard. I agree that toast and eggs wasn't the way to go. I thought oysters would be a good way to go since she was trying to cook something sensual. Anyway, I love Susar. I didn't know who his Greek God was either so I don't think he was playing up his confusion at all. We didn't learn about The God of Wine in school. Maybe each God should have came with a brief description. This is a cooking show not history class. Either way, great episode. :)
Poor Susur was at a real cultural disadvantage with this challenge. He couldn't even pronounce the name of Dionysus, much less know anything about this Greek God. It seemed a bit unfair and bloodthirsty to me that none of the other chefs bothered to tell Susur anything about Dionysus. They just let him flounder with the challenge. Had Susur known more about the character of this God, he might have come up with an entirely different dish. Nevertheless, my feeling is that Susur and Rick are the 2 real Master Chefs on this team. They are both fantastic chefs. I think it will come down to one of them, in the end. I was sorry to see the utterly delightful and charming Susan leave. She's the kind of person who is a joy to be around. She did very well for her charity, and I wish her all the best!
Really sorry to see Susan go, I really enjoyed her indomitable spirit. I will definitely go to her restaurant when I am in her neck of the woods. Gail, I am also so happy to hear that someone else besides me doesn't like foam on food. It just looks like "spit" to me and I do not think it is appetizing at all. But, I really want the recipe to Susan's coconut jam. Please, Susan?
Well, my 10 yr. old daughter and 12 yr. old son have been out of school since 5-27. Already making lists and planning Top Chef competition. My son fancies himself the next Rick Moonen!
I think your judgment of Susur's dish was culturally biased. You held him to the assumption that he would have a deeper understanding of Dionysus than was afforded him in a few frantic minutes. Your comment at judges' table reflected a one-sided frame of reference, and your blog confirms that.
Gail
I enjoy the show more when you are on. You are balanced, fair, smart, funny and obviously incredibly knowledgeable. The guys are both getting unnecessarily testy and you stay professional and focused. I do think the judges missed the Aphrodite dish completely. It was a wonderfully original, well conceived and executed response to the real heart of the challenge- to make a food that represents that particular god. I mean come on, how can one chef be criticized for not getting it and another get booted off for getting it too well?
In this wide world, 330 million Americans, and over 4 BILLION people world wide, there is not one WOMAN who is qualified to be a Top Chef? Bravo seems to run all of their so called "top" anything shows this way. Is this because the majority of judges are GAY MALES and only GAY MALES are qualified to be anything in this nation?
I was truly sad to see Suasan go.Not only is she a great chef, but she's a gracious and funny Lady.I think you all thought her dish was too simple at this stage of the game.But that was the beauty of it, it looked to be delicious and a true testament to Aphrodite.I don't deny it was a tough call, because all of these chefs are great and i wish them all well.Now i don't have a favorite so good luck to all.
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