It’s the semi-finals and the theme is “seduction.” Get ready for another Tuesday night filled with lewd humor, bizarre gestures and some very questionable phrases from Tony Bourdain.
The remaining seven contestants are given one hour to create a dish out of five seductive ingredients chosen by the mentors. TV personality/chef Ingrid Hoffman is the guest judge and she is “ready to be seduced.”
Lauren, the only remaining chef on Nigella’s team, explains that she’s not exactly the “queen of seduction.” She’s a virgin, and feels the need to share it with the country. Nigella offers Lauren ingredients like figs, pancetta, sea salt and Sambuca and, while Lauren rambles on about her vow of purity, the duo drops Sambuca-flavored batter into oil and calls it “Italian kisses.”
Bourdain and his lone chef Diane decide on prawns with truffles. The sexy part: the prawns are still alive! “Now that’s sexy,” says Bourdain and he explains that Diane deserves to be in the finals and it would mean a lot for her to go all the way.
Ludo offers his three remaining chefs ingredients like lobster, Dover sole and caviar and, once again, tells his gang to keep it “classic French.” Paul, who hasn’t always seen eye-to-eye with his mentor, dismisses the ingredients, explaining, “What would seduce me is a hot dog and French fries.” Ludo flirts with Sarah and whispers things about caviar in her ear and believes that his Gregg will make it to the finals.
Malarkey chooses oysters, lobster and caviar for Khristianne and executive chef Jeff and tells them there’s “no holding back here!” Khris decides to think about what would seduce her girlfriend at home (the answer is seafood) and Jeff and Malarkey team up to make an oyster “as girly as possible” (which means putting flowers on top of it).
Jeff’s passion fruit and caviar oyster doesn’t overpower guest judge Ingrid’s palate and Malarkey deems it “sex on a spoon.” Lauren’s Italian kisses with blackberry and chocolate sauce confuses Ingrid and she can’t tell which protein is in the dish. (“It’s a dessert,” says Lauren, bewildered.) Ultimately, Sarah’s panna cotta with caviar and caramel sauce wins out and, while immunity isn’t up for grabs anymore, she does walk away with a “mountain” of cookware.
The chefs are told to create “the most seductive spoon of [their] lives” for the solo challenge and are herded to the farmer’s market for fresh ingredients. The judges argue that the challenge is subjective and decide that delicate is sexy and spicy is not. Nigella chugs lots of wine as the mentors await their chefs’ dishes.
Diane feels like she’s the most seductive person she knows and decides to go “balls out” for the challenge. Lauren wants to make octopus because it is a “very sexy, very seductive animal.” She pairs the dish with tequila shooters because they make her frisky. Gregg tries his hand at fresh pasta and Sarah “hopes to seduce” with mussels and sangria.
Jeff presents the judges with snapper uni sashimi with sake gimlet and explains that it’s the kind of dish you would put on a naked woman (whatever that means). Diane’s chocolate paté with cherries and Malbec is deemed tacky and Lauren’s spicy octopus stew didn’t “fit the bill.” Khristianne’s uni, king crab and egg 63 served with champagne stuns the judges and Bourdain can’t help but blurt out, “I’m a big nasty slut. Take me now.” (Weird, I know.) Khris is extremely proud and claims Bourdain’s response is a “dream come true.”
In the end, Khris receives three gold stars and a standing ovation from the judges and Paul, Lauren, and Jeff are all sent packing. The finale is next week and one of the chef’s will be crowned The Taste champion and win $100,000.
Christina Colavecchia graduated from York University in Toronto, Canada in May 2012 with a degree in Professional Writing and Humanities. As a Canuck living the U.S. for the first time, she’s loving the Dallas lifestyle and all the city has to offer.
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