22x12 - Foraged in Fire

[bunniefuu]

Previously onTop Chef...

Welcome to Calgary.

Pancake challenge.

- Yahoo!
- Are you guys hungry?

Oof! That hasn't
happened in a while.

We all doing the same thing?

-You making hoecakes?
- Yes.

Lana, the sausage was
bigger than the pancake.

You're just gonna
have to work that much harder

going into
the Elimination Challenge.

And we want you
to use beef and berries.

Oh.

Flat iron is really thin,

so I want to char
them really nicely.

I'm just smoking my berries.

A little meat and potato moment.

The potato was
a bit of a disconnect.

Yeah.

For me
as a Canadian chef,

I want to do it
justice and honor.

I think the elderberry
was beautiful.

Tristen, the flavors
of your dish were outstanding.

Unfortunately,
it was overcooked a little bit.

The winner is...

Massimo.

The suspense!

Massimo, congratulations.

Lana, please
pack your knives and go.

Five chefs remain to compete in
the ultimate culinary showdown.

At stake for the winner,

the largest prize
package in Top Chefhistory.

The grand prize of a quarter
of a million dollars furnished

by Saratoga Spring Water,
the official water of Top Chef,

Delta Sky Miles
Diamond Medallion status,

and $125,000 to spend
on travel with Delta Airlines.

A feature
in Food & Winemagazine,

an appearance at the
Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.

And for the first time ever,
the winner of Top Chef

will headline their own
exclusive dinner

at the historic
James Beard House in New York.

And the title of Top Chef.

It's hard.

CÉSAR: Nobody's as funny as her.

She's so funny.

This is why we're here.

This is why you
fought your way back in...

The two last chancers.

...your one day in Last Chance.

I'm still here.

It's bittersweet because Lana
just had this energy to her.

So much love,
and I'm gonna miss it a lot.

At the same time, you're
just one more challenge away

from going to the finals.

You're so damn close, man.

That's my girl.

- CÉSAR: She still is.
-She still is.

I have such
a true friend in Lana.

It feels like
a bigger purpose now.

I want to see a woman
get to the finals.

That's what we got to do.

By the way,
I can girl talk.

- I girl talk very well.
- We can sing, too.

I'm great.
I like getting my nails done.

I'm a girl dad.

I like spa days.

We have to make
it very cute tomorrow.

A lot of focus, a lot of energy.

CÉSAR: There they are.

Ooh!

Ah!

Good morning.

- Mystery bags?
-Mystery totes.

- Fishing gear?
- Well, shall we?

Let's see what they are.

Oh, my God!

We're gonna forage.

These are intense gloves
for foraging mushrooms.

I know we're going foraging,

and I just started
thinking about the weather

the last few days.

Has it been raining? Is there
gonna be mushrooms out there?

What are we gonna find?

I got my little pockets.

Last year, I found
a 15-pound Hen of the Woods.

It took me two hands to hold it.

The adrenaline just hits you.

It's the most exciting moment.

Yeah!

BMW, take me
to Quarry Lake in Canmore.

Getting
directions to Quarry Lake.

Oh, this is such a nice car.

This is something
I've never done.

- Okay.
- I've never been camping.

CÉSAR: I can't believe that.

I'm not a camping guy.

What kind of childhood
did you have?

Oh, BMW X3
is kind of hitting it.

Yeah. It does it all.

Oh, my God, look
at those beautiful mountains.

Wow!

CÉSAR: Amazing.

Whoa, man.

Jesus.

Wow.

- Good morning.
-Good morning.

Nice way to start the day, huh?

- Hell yeah.
- The best.

It's nice.

Chefs, there will
be no Quickfire today.

Okay.

This is your final Elimination
Challenge here in Canada.

Oh, wow.

I can't believe we're this deep

in Top Chef
competition right now.

The first day, I couldn't
have been more nervous.

I just feel like
a whole different person.

And I'm re-finding myself
as a chef.

Welcome to beautiful
Quarry Lake, here in Canmore.

Do you all consider
yourselves outdoorsy?

Foraging, I love being outdoors.

I love it.

I love hiking
with a pack of cigarettes.

- What?
- Just kidding on the hiking.

- I've never been hiking.
- Yeah, okay.

Tristen, you're not outdoorsy?

I work so hard
to have a roof over my head,

I like to stay under that roof.

Okay. Understood. Understood.

I appreciate nature.

It's just not something
that calls to me

like it does other people.

You know, I really like shopping
and getting my nails done.

If you want to make it
to the finals in Italy,

you're gonna have
to search high and low.

Hm!

Chefs, you're standing in
our special guest's playground.

Please say hello
to Cree Knowledge Keeper

and owner of Mahikan Trails,

Brenda Holder.

Hi, Brenda.

I come from a long
lineage of people

who have survived on this land.

And the forest that you
see around you is a pharmacy.

It's a food store.

It's a clothing store.

And this is where
we get our tools.

- So, welcome.
- Thank you for having us.

And next to Brenda
is a local chef,

master forager, Tracy Little.

- Hello, chefs.
-Hi.

My restaurant
is 10 minutes down the road.

We do tasting menus that
are comprised of ingredients

that I find
out here in the wild.

Brenda and Tracy
are incredibly cool.

Brenda just
telling us about the land,

I could listen
to her speak for hours.

Tracy, I just
really want to come back

so I can try her food.

Chefs, we're gonna go back

to where the culinary story
began: foraging.

All around the world,
leading chefs are really

leaning into this practice
more and more.

I love it.

Alberta is known
for the beautiful outdoors.

And with its 35,000 hectares
of publicly-forested land,

they provide a ton
of ingredient options

that can be foraged
from top to bottom, literally.

Cool.

We're in the time of year
when all of the energy

of the plant goes down
into the root system.

This is where we'll find
all of the nutrients, medicine,

and other beautiful things
that my people have used

for a long period of time.

For your final
Elimination Challenge in Canada,

each of you must create a dish

using foraged ingredients
from the trees to the roots.

But no matter
your expertise level

or your knowledge, Brenda
and Tracy will be here to help.

Yay!

After you're done hand-picking
your main ingredients,

you'll head back to Calgary
where you'll have $200 to shop

for any other remaining
ingredients that you might need.

Brenda and Tracy
and some of your other guests

will also be providing
a small additional pantry

of foraged ingredients
to work with.

Tomorrow, you'll head
to Jumping Pound Ranch,

where each of you
will have two and a half hours

to cook outside.

Oh.

Over an open flame.

- Nice.
- Okay.

Cooking over an open flame
is so rejuvenating.

It's almost like connecting
with nature so much more.

And I love that.

Massimo, as the winner of the
last Elimination Challenge,

you'll have three hours to cook.

- So, an additional 30 minutes.
- Rock and roll.

Thank you.

You'll be serving
Brenda and Tracy,

along with some of Alberta's
top foragers and chefs.

And you're gonna want
to dig deep for this one,

because the winner
will receive $10,000.

Nice.

All right, so who's
ready to go shopping?

- Yes.
- We are.

Grab the tools from
the trunks of the BMW X3s,

and then you
can come right back.

CÉSAR: I'm so excited.

- Ready.
-You ready?

- CÉSAR: Yeah.
- Toque up.

-Let's go.
-Let's go.

Before we get started,
it's very important

that we pay
our respects to the land

that we're gonna be
collecting the food from.

Just because we have two hands
that can take anything,

it does not give us
the right to do so.

So we're gonna make an offering,

and I'm gonna have you guys
accompany me to do that.

All right, chefs,
I will leave you in their hands.

Have fun.

Living in the city,
sometimes you don't slow down

and really appreciate
how special Mother Nature is.

And it feels really good
to take a moment

to be connected
with the earth in that way.

All right, come
on over here, you guys.

So, this is called
the poplar tree.

And these buds in the spring
get very, very sticky.

- Try a little bit.
- Ooh!

It's pretty bitter,
isn't it?

Pretty intense.

Is there anywhere
to get some mustards?

We'll have
to go back over that way

- a little bit, I think.
-So this is yarrow.

I like to use it
for a substitute for rosemary.

- It's a great garnish as well.
-I can't believe it.

These are early summer flowers,
and they're still here.

I feel so lucky.

I only use flowers
when they're in season,

only wild,
and from my mother's garden.

I'm a lot like my mother.

She knows what she likes,
she knows what she wants,

she knows what she demands,
and she expects it.

Let's go
and have a look over there

at the juniper that we have.

-Ooh.
-That I know.

Yeah, there we go.

Yeah, let's pick one of these,
because I think they're great.

Just squeeze it, and smell it.

You'll get a little
bit of a gin scent to it.

Yeah, a little bit
of a gin scent, yeah.

Juniper is really
good with smoking.

-Yeah.
- CÉSAR: Oh, wow.

I don't necessarily
want to make

just a big bowl of soup,
but I definitely want

to make some kind
of medicinal broth

like my mom and my grandma
used to cook for me.

Growing up
drinking these broths,

you're just like,
yuck, this is gross.

Now, as I've gotten older,

I constantly make broth
with all these things.

It's just so funny
as you get older,

you realize what an idiot
you were when you were a kid.

Now,
this is beautiful, right here.

This is a rose hip.

So, let's try the flesh of it.

Like, squash-y.

Yeah, a little bit like squash.

What about underground?

- You don't have a root yet?
- No.

I highly suggest
you get the dandelion root

or a mustard root,
and then we're just gonna

rip it out
of the ground for you.

There is also some thistle here.

If you go right down close
to the ground and pull out

to try to get
at the roots, yeah,

you've got some roots there.

Can I show you my favorite?

-Yeah, please.
- Okay.

-Ants.
-Yeah, my favorite.

Okay, it tastes like
lemon and vinegar.

-Lemon.
- Mm, delicious.

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

- Oh, my God, that is so good.
-So good.

Oh, my God. It's like lemon.
It's got lemon zest.

-Super lemony.
- CÉSAR: It's amazing.

So, they do bite.
It's gonna suck.

Oh, my God.

You know what else
tastes like lemon segments?

Lemon segments.

And they don't crawl
in your mouth, so.

So, the way I prepare
these is I put them

in the freezer for a bit.

It just puts them
to sleep, and then

you kind of toast them quickly.

I've had ants before,
but I've never been able

to forage them for myself.

In my trips through Oaxaca,
they would make you, like,

salsa, tableside,
with ants, as well.

Ants would be trying
to crawl out of the molcajete,

and the guy would just be,
like, scraping them back in,

and smashing them up.

I'm slowly hatching some ideas.

You don't want to be eaten,
but you're delicious.

There's some really,
like, strong flavors out here,

and I think that's
part of your challenge

is trying to make that work.

Yeah.

I'm really surprised
by the amount of things

in just this couple square feet
that we can consume.

-That is exquisite.
-I want exquisite.

But I'm having a tough time
pitting the culinary

and the culture together
for this challenge,

because I don't identify
with a lot of these ingredients,

and that's kind of scary.

I can't wait to see what you
guys do with these ingredients.

- Us, too.
-It was fun.

Have a good rest, and dream up
some amazing things for us.

- Thank you.
- Thank you guys so much.

- Bye.
- CÉSAR: Ciao.

Got some roots, a little
thorny, so, got some on my hand.

I got a lot of mustard,
mustard roots, mustard flowers.

I got clover flowers,
yarrow flowers.

CÉSAR: A lot of flowers.

I loved it so much.

- It was amazing.
- Yeah.

All right, vamos.

Well,
that was interesting.

Yeah, the foraging
was really cool.

Like, I wouldn't walk down
some hiking path

and just start eating tree buds,
you know?

So friggin' cool.

You guys have ideas yet?

I am thinking some sort of meat

smoked over some sort of branch.

You wanna just share a dish?

Yeah, let's do it.

This is now
a team challenge.

Four of us against Massimo.

Yes.

- All right.
- Yep.

Sorry, man, I had to pass out.

CÉSAR: That's okay.

All right,
last stop in Canada.

Well, actually, it's not
my last stop in Canada.

But for now, it is.

-Oh, sorry.
-Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

Ooh, spices.
Right in front of me.

Hi.

Can I see these trouts, please?

When I woke up
from my sleep in the car,

I have a very clear dish
that I pictured.

That one, and these two
here in front, please.

I got some really nice juniper.

I would love to get
the trout grilled on the barbie,

and then smoke them on juniper.

The way that the smoke
dispenses all of the flavor,

you cannot get that
any other way.

I need to get a beer.
I'm making bannock.

And I'm gonna garnish it
with the flowers

that I got today.

- 25 minutes, guys.
-25 minutes.

I am grabbing some celery roots.

Ugh! I don't know what to do.

I'm just having
a really hard time.

What cuts do you have
that you're able to slice?

-Everything.
-Everything?

This will be the final four,
if I make it through.

And that final four
is going to Italy.

There's just so much at stake.

Bailey, are you finding
what you need?

Sort of. How about you?

What are you doing
for your protein?

Uh, I'm in between
pork and lamb,

and I'll see
how the budget goes.

At this point, I have no clue

what I'm gonna do
with this dish.

I'm really struggling.

Let me have five of these
pork chops, please.

I'm just gonna grab
some familiar things

that kind of mimic
the little bit of flavors

that I got from
these foraged herbs,

because everything
that's going in it

will be charred or toasted
on open fire,

and add a lot
of depth of flavor.

Can I get 36 ounces

- sliced pretty thin?
-Yeah.

You're awesome, thank you.

I think I'm gonna do
a lamb skewer.

Beans could be nice.

I'm kind of
figuring the rest out.

All right, guys, 12 minutes.

Panic shopping.

CÉSAR: Oh,
they're ten bucks each.

They have a really
nice mushroom selection.

So, I figure I'm making
some sort of mushroom dish.

Do you think I can get, like,
four strips of bacon?

Let me think of other dishes
that are cooked in fire.

Oh, well, there's,
you know, tacos al pastor.

What about,
like, cochinita pibil?

So then, I'm, like,
going back and forth,

trying to, like,
bridge those two dishes

together with mushrooms.

Pineapple, you're so crazy.
I love it, though.

Hey, there.

Four minutes!

Thank you so much, brother.

What am I at, sir?

$196.51.

Thank you.

$189.

- $197.
- That's it.

Yeah, baby.

All right.

Oh, vino.

- Cheers.
- Cheers.

- Salud.
- Salud, salud.

We've had this opportunity to
kind of, like, pause our lives.

And I like this pause,
and I like the things

that I've focused on,
and slow down a little bit.

A lot of time
in solitude,

a lot of time to reflect.

And, um... yeah, no,
I'm happy for it.

When I first walked
into Top Chef,

I was a chef of a very difficult


that wanted to prove that
his name was Massi----in'-mo.

I can't wait to be in Italy.

But I have to make it
past tomorrow's cooking.

I came in very confident.

Then, every single day,
I was surrounded by chefs

of such a quality and caliber
that competing against them

was very humbling.

And it's keeping me focused,
keeping me dialed in.

Massimo, your job is not over.

Coming from
the restaurant I work at,

like, I'm so comfortable there.

Coming here, it, like, shook me.

But then realizing, I was like,
I can push through this.

And you did.

That's just 'cause
you're really [indistinct].

I know, right?

The biggest thing
I've always preached

is competition
and being uncomfortable

breeds progress
and a better thing.

It turns me into another animal

that I used to know, right,

- when we were cooks?
-Yeah.

And we were just, like, hungry.

I'm happy to, like,
have that, like, hunger again.

This truly has been an honor
cooking with all of you,

just because I thought
I didn't have it in me anymore.

- Are you serious?
-I thought,

I really thought I peaked.

You guys pushing me
forward has really, like,

challenged me to be better,
and just better with myself.

And so I appreciate y'all
for doing that for me.

Right back at you, slick.

I have a loose framework
of what I'm going to cook,

but I'm letting the food
and the ingredients guide me.

I've always been big
on creative expression.

In high school,
I, like, loved glam rock.

I loved David Bowie.

I don't know if I bring
glam rock into my cooking,

but I like experimentation
and applying that to food.

That's what I'm doing
here today.

Yow!

I woke up in the middle
of the night like, yo!

I didn't come up
with the idea for my dish

until legitimately
three o'clock in the morning.

It literally just woke me up,
and I was like...

...I know what I'm gonna do.

I think I learned how
to do it using my own story now.

I was asking myself,
I was like, man,

I was in the mountains
yesterday.

Black people don't go
to no mountains.

And then I was like,
"Wait a second.

"The Taíno people
went to the mountains,

"and that's where
jerk was invented."

The Taíno people were the
Indigenous people of Jamaica,

and they used to hide
in the mountains,

and cook with all the foraged
ingredients and greens,

and I immediately
just ran with that.

I'm gonna make
a version of jerk pork.

All I need is a thread.

I need a thread
that connects to me,

and that's all I needed,
and that's what I got.

I really want
to go to Italy, guys.

I want to go to Italy
and do all Ethiopian food.

Look at these
beautiful mountains.

Man, I would love
to live on a mountain.

♪ I'm a cowboy

My strategy for today
is just enjoy the moment,

go with an open mind,
and an open heart.

I want to go to Milano.

I want to go cook some
- ing Italian food.

CÉSAR: That's it, man. Last one.

Oh, yeah.

I just got a kick in the gut
of nervousness and anxiety.

Ugh.

I love this BMW X3.

I want one in every color.

Here we go.

I'm excited.

Let's go.

CÉSAR: Anybody
seen Alberta capers?

-Right here.
- CÉSAR: I have roasted vinegar.

We're gifted
a bunch of beautiful ingredients

- from Brenda and Tracy.
- Oh.

So, I grabbed things
to reinforce the poplar flavors

that I harvested,
like poplar bud syrup.

I scooped that up.

I'm done.

I need a container.

I want a lot of coal
so I can grill later.

I have to separate
this fire somehow.

Cooking in this style
of open fire is very difficult.

I'm gonna use half
of the fire for grilling

and the other half for smoking.

It's very low to the ground,
it's hot

and maintaining the zones
of heat are very important.

Feels good next to the fire.

Oh.

CÉSAR: Bailey,
what you got in that pot?

I got beans in my pot.

I'm using dried cowpeas
or black-eyed peas,

and we are in Cowtown,

so it feels like the right move.

But I know I need all the time
I have to cook these, 100%.

I am cutting
some artichokes, celery,

parsley stems to add
to my bean cooking liquid.

CÉSAR: Bailey, have you ever
cooked like this before?

You know what?
I really haven't, César.

I really wanted
to make dandelion greens

with these cowpeas.

I'm hoping that
it all comes together.

A lot of feeling
it out on this one.

I'm gonna cook the artichokes
in the dress.

- Pit master or what?
-That's right, baby.

I got some rose hip berries,
putting that in the stock.

And some lovage is gonna be
really nice as a garnish.

Not burnt enough.

Poking holes
just to help get a bit

of that smoke flavor
inside of the potatoes.

César, you
have a pineapple, dude?

Damn it, I knew
there would be fruit.

CÉSAR: I can't help it.

I'm just gonna slowly roast it.

Doing a play
on like an al pastor taco

sort of cochinita pibil
situation.

I'm gonna start
skewering my pork

so I can get it set up
for a slow roast.

They're thick boys.

I need to cook
my pork with indirect heat.

Pork dries out immediately.

♪ This is ghetto

After the last challenge
where I lost to Massimo,

I want to make sure
that every slice

of the protein will be perfect.

We're going forage Jamaica here.

Shuai, what are you working on?

I'm gonna cut
some of these cabbage up

and throw them on the grill.

You don't want to just
char the cabbage on its own.

Of course, it's gonna be
very dry and brittle.

You want to add that stock
and kind of reduce it

in the stock so
it just kind of glazes itself.

My medicinal stock,
I have rose hip berries,

crystal roots,
a little bit of juniper.

Two hours.

-Hey, chefs.
-Hey, chef.

-Hi, Tom.
-Hi, chef.

- How are you?
-I'm all right, chef.

- How are you doing?
-Good.

- Do you cook outside often?
- Outside?

Not like this.

Not like this?

What are you making?

I'm doing a Canadian version
of jerk pork.

I had a hard time,
honestly, relating

to Black people
in the mountains.

You know what I'm saying?

Like, that's just
not a place we're at.

So that's the direction
I'm kind of going.

But using all
of the foraged items that I use.

So what are the foraged items?

Some poplar barks.

I'm using that kind of
as cinnamon for my jerk sauce.

Yarrow that I'm using as thyme

and rosemary,
kind of as a flavor.

Rose hips went
in my jerk as well.

Sounds like
you have a game plan.

- Yeah.
- All right, good luck.

- César, how you doing?
- What's up, chef?

- How you doing?
- Good.

- You got some honey mushrooms?
- CÉSAR: Chestnuts.

Oh,
they're chestnut mushrooms.

- CÉSAR: Yes, sir.
-What else do you have?

CÉSAR: Lion's mane portobellos
that were foraged.

I'm gonna use some ants.

- And that's kind of my ground.
- Ants?

- Yeah.
- Ants. You foraged those?

Yes, I did.
They were so yummy, too.

- They were really yummy.
- Wow.

CÉSAR: I'm making a few things,
so cochinita pibil.

That's gonna be
my mushroom broth.

Al pastor flavors
with pineapple and a trompo,

like, slices of it
cooked over a fire.

So, I'm kind of fusing
those two together.

-Got it.
- CÉSAR: It feels good to be

- out here cooking this way.
- Cool, good luck.

- Thank you, chef.
-Massimo.

- Chef.
- How are you?

I couldn't be better.

I have an extra half hour,
so I have time

to do a bannock
cooked on a rock.

- And I'm really excited.
-Okay.

Yesterday,
I saw a patch of mustard.

Mustard root, mustard flower.

So I'm gonna do
a sauce of mustard.

I'm gonna make an espuma
with the potatoes in the coals.

And the protein, trout.

I'm told there are a lot
in that river right there.

You want to go later?
What are you doing later?

You serious?

- Sounds good.
- Thank you, chef.

- Hey, Bailey.
- Hi, Tom.

- How are you?
- Oh, I'm having a ball today.

That wasn't too convincing.

No, you didn't believe that?

So, what are you making?

- Cowtown cowpeas.
- Cowtown cowpeas?

I'm also doing, like,
a lamb piadina with it.

And then, like, a grilled,
marinated dandelion green.

Okay.

And then like kind
of like a creamy stock,

like, puree situation.

Sounds like you're
not quite 100% there yet.

-Yeah.
-All right.

- Good luck.
-Thanks, Tom.

Oh! Oh, my God.

- Hey, Shuai.
- Hi, Tom. How are you?

- Good. How's it going?
- Good, good, good.

Just getting
my face roasted off.

So, you grilled
some pork belly?

So this
is more like a garnish.

The main dish is mainly I want
to do like a roasted cabbage.

I'm gonna cover it in,
like, just a sour cabbage stock.

I found a good amount
of sisal roots.

And I'm gonna put that
in the stock.

And I'm gonna make almost
like a spruce and poplar oil.

In terms of how you're
cooking right now, I mean,

early in the season,
it's kind of up and down.

But you seem to be on a roll.

Yeah, I've just been
feeling way more myself lately.

You know, like, this is my life.

There should just be
a Top Chefoutdoor cooking.

I'm with you 100%.

I was suggesting
Top Chef Naked and Afraid.

I don't know
if I want to do it naked.

Certainly, I'd be afraid.

- Good luck.
- Thank you, chef.

Okay, chefs,
keep the fires burning.

Everything looks good.

Thank you, chef.

One hour, 25 minutes.

The chefs all
went foraging yesterday.

And they're using products,

a lot of them that
they don't really know.

But they can also
relate them to other products

that they do know of.

Tristen, he has a very good
way of downplaying

what he's doing and letting
the food speak for itself.

César, he is using ants.

Interesting. But if you're
gonna go for it, go for it.

Bailey, she's gonna
have to add a little bit

of sweetness somewhere
in this dish

because the dandelion greens
are really, really bitter.

She's working
on a lot of different things

and trying
to edit as she goes along.

But she doesn't
seem 100% as sure

as some of the other chefs.

This is a great challenge.

I think it really
tests a certain skill level.

And sometimes,
great dishes come out of that.

Hopefully that happens today.

Oh, good lamb.

But I'm not getting
enough of the poplar into it.

Oh, my God,
it smells so terrible, though.

Everything I'm doing today
feels a little risky.

I'm using far more
of this poplar syrup

than I ever
anticipated in my life.

These are really strong, unique
flavors that I'm working with.

A little too much poplar, this
could be really out of balance.

But if it's not enough, then
what's the point in doing it?

We're gonna do
as many testers as we need to.

So we want
to make sure that this is

ing good enough
to get to Milan.

CÉSAR: Tristen, what
do you got working on, man?

These are nettles, so
I'm gonna be using these to make

my callaloo
with my parsnip coconut milk.

In Trinidad, callaloo is greens

that's been cooked
in coconut milk, spices.

I'm trying
to really stay in the theme.

So, I'm gonna actually make
coconut milk out of parsnips.

Get a little bit of milkiness,

a little bit of maltiness to it,
so you get that nice creaminess.

I used to watch
my grandmother make

her own coconut milk
all the time.

So, I'm gonna
harness that knowledge

and create
the really creamy texture

of the callaloo
that I know growing up.

All right, we're coming up now.

I think some
of the things are starting

to actually taste good,
so that's cool.

Rolling out my version
of a bannock cr*cker.

I want to get
that stone nice and hot.

A nice bannock cr*cker that's
crispy that you can dip in.

Maybe those other wild herbs
that I foraged,

chop up, make into a condiment.

It sounds delicious to me.

I got some really nice flowers
yesterday, so I think it's cool.

This is my foraged
jerk marinade.

B-Block, how you doing, girl?

Still trying
to dial in my lamb marinade.

I'm adding honey
because it just needs some help.

CÉSAR: I'm planning
on making adobo

with some
of these roasted veggies.

I need to make an adobo
that tastes like al pastor.

My toasted ants are
gonna be a garnish,

but they're also
gonna add a little bit

of pop into the adobo.

Picking through my little ants,

trying to get as many as I can
because they are tricky.

Look into their eye.

CÉSAR: Sorry, guys.

Say hello to my little ants.

Checking out my sleepy ants.

It's all fun and games
until you have to pick ants.

Pretty wild spending


out of dirt for $10,000.

Never in my life did I think
I would make ant togarashi.

Oh, there's a bunch around here.

This is gorgeous.

Look at this,
this is stunning.

Unreal. It's so beautiful.

Wow.

Oh, I love your
lunch spot choice here.

Oh, you know,
we do what we can for you.

Welcome, everyone, to our final
challenge here in Canada.

Nicole, Paul, welcome back.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

Scott and Matricia,
thank you for being here.

- I'm excited.
- Miigwechfor having me.

This table spends a lot
of time outside foraging.

You know the land well.

What kind of things
are you foraging for?

Summertime and going out on
the land with my grandparents.

It's just one of those, like,
nostalgic memories for me.

We'd go camping, and that's all
we would do is harvest berries.

And just, like,
being stained with blue.

That's the reason
why I cook, is, like,

it brings me back
memories, right?

Food's magical.
It has this way of healing you.

It's been a while since I've
done an espuma of potatoes.

Little mixy-mix.

Spicy sauce.

This is
a birch sap miso syrup.

One minute.
All right, let's do this.

And the pork is nice and juicy.

I was timing this one out a lot

to make sure that
this was cooked perfectly.

Honoring the mountain folk.

- Thank you.
-Thank you.

Oh, my God, I got a fatty bit.
I'm so happy.

Tristen, can you tell us
what you made, please?

I wanted to reference
my Afro-Caribbean culture,

and the Taínos were the
indigenous people of Jamaica.

They used to go into mountains,

and that's where jerk pork
was basically started.

So, I call it the OG Jerk.

It's then glazed with birch sap
and plantain miso syrup.

Poplar bark was
used as cinnamon.

Yarrow was used as thyme.

And then the greens,
it's a Quarry Lake callaloo.

Instead of coconut milk,
I made a parsnip milk

so that I can kind of mimic
that same flavor.

Sorry for the out of breath.
I'm chubby.

- Thank you all.
-Thank you.

I could listen to him

- talk about food all day.
-Oh, my God, so much.

-He's awesome.
- Yeah. This is incredible.

One of the things
that's really important to me

is connecting people
to the land,

and I'm really tasting
the land in this dish.

I really like
the use of parsnip milk

in place of coconut milk from
his heritage.

That's very smart.

I love the sweetness
in that sauce,

and it balanced so perfectly
with the pork and the greens.

This is Tristen
doing what he does best:

finding the ingredients
that are foraged

that you're not familiar with,
but spending time with them

and then relating it
to something that you know.

It really worked
just to his advantage.

- A lot of love in this dish.
- Yeah.

CÉSAR: Tristen,
how'd it go, man?

I don't think
they hated it.

There's an eagle flying.
There's three of them.

- Three eagles, look at that.
-Oh, wow.

-Oh, wow.
- What a good sign.

-That's magical.
- What a good sign.

Finally, we get to a point
where I'm really happy with

how the marinade tastes, but
also how it grills on the lamb.

Okay. I think
they're almost there.

Nice.

CÉSAR: I think
they look beautiful.

A little pineapple
in the center.

A little mushroom here...

mushroom there.

Plating is where
I have the most fun.

It's like creation
and also destruction.

Oh, my God, they're so cute.

Like, it's too cute to eat,
but then you just devour it.

Okay.

The pressure's on.

To get this far and not make it
would be very crushing.

Okay, here we go.

-Thank you.
-We got ants.

Oh, yeah.
That smells nice.

This is spruce.

César, can you tell us
about your dish, please?

Yeah, so today you're
having mushroom trompo

with a mushroom pibil broth
and toasted ants.

It's like a little bit of fusion
between an al pastor taco,

also cochinita pibil with
some roasted pineapple

brushed with an adobo sauce
made out of rose hips.

- Thank you, chef.
-Thank you, César.

- I loved the broth.
-Yeah.

We love our soups.

We eat soups when
it's, like, plus 40.

I liked the presentation.

I like pulling different
textures and flavors

off of a sprig.

I got a lot of bitter
right off the top,

but then as you dug into it,
the richness of the broth

helped mellow that all out.

It was completely dialed in.

- I'm gonna remember that one.
-Nice work.

Ten minutes.

My cowpeas, they're still not
quite there. They're close.

I'm trying to wait until
the absolute last minute

to take those
out of their liquid.

So close.

A kiss on the cabbage.

Nice and charred.

Those toasty ants. Yum.

Right now,
I'm butterflying a trout.

I really wanna get the flesh
as fondant as possible.

I could get a nice
little rosé on it.

Trout is very, very thin.

It's going to be
extremely difficult

to get the crispy skin,
the perfect cook,

and the smoke
all at the same time.

But this isn't
my first barbecue.

Oh, you hear that?

Wow.

Okay. Yep.

This dish, it's unlike
anything I've ever made.

I feel exposed in this moment.

This is for all the marbles.

Like, this is how I get to Milan
or how I get a flight home.

- Hi, Bailey.
-Hi!

I did a lamb spiedino with
grilled dandelion green salad

and Cowtown cowpeas,
or black-eyed peas.

I also used black poplar syrup

as well as some birch syrup
to glaze it.

-Thank you, Bailey.
- Thank you. Oh, my God.

Well, any time you serve meat
on a skewer, I'm in.

I love the lamb,
and dandelion greens

are not easy to cook with,
and it was nice

to see her take that risk
in the dish.

I thought she did
a really good job.

Yeah, I think she did
a great job with the ingredients

that she was using.

The only issue I have
is the peas.

There's a flavor combination

that I'm not
familiar with at all.

You know,
I think it's the poplar syrup

and the roast garlic together,
and I don't know if

I like it or not,
but I keep going back to it.

My peas are also, like,
a little too crunchy.

Like, a little creamier
would've been nice.

Actually, I'm just quite
happy right now that we're

- getting great, great food.
-Yeah.

- How did your cook go?
-I think for me

the hardest part was
just, like, figuring out

- my flavors together.
-Okay.

Massimo,
how's that fish looking, chef?

Here, Shuai.

Merci beaucoup.

Oh, perfectly cooked, chef.

It's ready to portion and smoke.

That's ready to go.

Sour cabbage sauce.

Smells just like mama's house.

Little tiny baby ants.
It's crispy.

Let's make sure everyone
gets enough ants on here.

Feel pretty great
about this dish.

Whenever I feel like
I cook out of memory and love,

it always comes out pretty well,
so I'm excited.

-Gorgeous dish, chef.
-Thank you, chef.

- Thank you. Wow.
- Oh, yeah.

That looks good.
All right, Shuai.

Today I made a roasted
cabbage with a rose hip glaze,

pork belly, lovage,
and thatching ant togarashi.

The oil, you have this kind
of tingly, spicy note on there.

That oil is made from black
spruce as well as poplar buds

and just a tiny bit
of Sichuan peppercorn.

The sauce around the dish
that is sort of translucent.

- What is that?
- So, it's a stock.

A lot of Asian stocks are
made with medicinal things.

Like, the sisal
reminded me of ginseng,

and the berries
reminded me of goji berries.

And then the ants are just fun.
I mean...

-Thank you, Shuai.
- Thank you so much.

-Wow.
-Wow.

-Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
-Mm-hmm.

Ant togarashi.

It's definitely
a Top Cheffirst.

- Yeah, so smart.
-When it landed,

I'm like, okay, cabbage.
But it wasn't just cabbage.

There was so much
flavor into it.

And I love that it wasn't
just burnt on the outside

to get it perfectly
cooked on the inside.

-Literally charred.
- Yeah. It was nice.

I was really caught up in
all of the different flavors

that played so nicely
with each other.

The sweeter side
of the pork belly,

and then the vinegar side
with the cabbage and the char.

I found this
a really exquisite dish.

It was excellent.
Like, I love that Shuai went

into the woods yesterday
and came out with this.

I'm absolutely loving it.
I love my job.

-How was that, chef?
-I think it was good.

- I don't wanna go home.
- You looked incredible.

Tell my wife
my plane ticket got lost.

How was Massimo
when you checked in on them?

It's Massimo.

The smoking of the juniper
is what's gonna

finish cooking the trout.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

I want flavors
that capture the judges.

Ah!

I love it.

I highlighted the forage
ingredients to perfection.

This is a winning dish.

Ah!

Final cook
in Canada, eh?

Plating this dish,

I wanna keep the dish
as simple as possible.

Putting the bannock
inside the bowl

would be too much
of a competition.

This is what it's about, baby.

Guys, it's not surgery.

Bam!

Okay. Let's go, guys.

Be careful, there's
a flatbread over here, okay?

-Hello.
- Hey, guys.

Hello!
Thank you.

All right, guys. A Buddhist monk
in saffron robes once told

a 19-year-old David Bowie,

"Who are you, where are you,
and where are you going?"

And hopefully this dish
can answer at least

two of those questions.

Yesterday, when I was foraging,

I saw mustard.

So, this dish was
actually conceptualized

by the mustard itself.

Today, I make grilled trout
that's slightly smoked

in juniper with
a sauce of mustard roots

and mustard leaf
with a smoked potato puree.

And I made a bannock with all
the wild flowers and wild herbs.

-Thank you, Massimo.
- Thanks, guys.

Thank you.

I like what Massimo did here
'cause he took one ingredient,

the mustard,
and really focused on that,

and I think he did it
really well.

The fish was
perfectly cooked.

Trout is one of my favorite
fish ever to eat,

so I appreciate that
he showed it the love he needed.

Everything in the bowl,
I thought was well-balanced.

But the bannock, that
really intense herb condiment,

had, like, such a bitter note,

and it just felt disconnected
from the trout.

He kind of left it
up to the user

to figure out how to eat it,
but once I found my balance,

the bannock plus the fish
and the potato and the sauce,

then it worked for me.

It was very elegant
for such a big personality.

Like, very, like, dainty.

All right!

- Wow.
-Five really lovely,

inspired dishes today.

Very clear that all five chefs
rose to the occasion,

created absolutely
stunning dishes.

The flavors
all kind of coincided.

-Yeah, it worked.
- Dish to dish, chef to chef.

It was
like a collab dinner.

Yeah, it was
like a collab dinner.

It's a shame that
someone's gonna go home

for making one of these dishes.

Matricia, Paul, Nicole, and
Scott, thank you for being here

on what I think is one of
the highest highs of the season

and just the most perfect
send-off to Canada.

But we do have to get to
Judges' Table. A lot to discuss.

- Good luck. That's a tough one.
- Thank you. Yeah.

Brenda,
how do you think the chefs did?

I was really touched.

It was such a beautiful honor

to taste your food and
to taste the land through that.

It was exquisite.

Massimo, walk us through
how it all came to be.

I knew I wanted to cook
trout on open flame.

I had a half an hour extra, and
so I wanted to cook the bannock

to have a little bread,
to have something to dip in.

The fish was just
beautifully cooked.

I loved the mustard relish
made with the stems.

- Thank you.
-The sauce,

I mean, absolutely outstanding.

Thank you so much.

I loved that you put
a lot of bitterness

and herbaceousness
onto that bannock.

But the way you plated it,
because there was

so much garnish on the bannock,
I didn't think to dip it.

And the flavors on the cr*cker
were incredibly powerful.

Tristen.

A lot of the ingredients
were very new to me.

I thought of, like,
wild pigs rummaging around

and, like, eating roots
and tubers and shoots,

so I used pork
and used a little bit

of everything
to make jerk sauce.

Layers and layers of flavors
just kept coming,

and it was as if you were

using these ingredients
your entire life.

Just-- just stunning.

Thank you.

I was astounded
how you came to the point

of translating the language
from my land

through to the food
and into your own culture.

Thank you. I think food connects
us no matter where we're from.

- It really does.
-Mm-hmm.

César.

I was so happy
foraging yesterday.

I remember the first
two things we tried

were the rose hips and the ants.

That's kind of where the idea
started to hatch a little bit.

You took one of my favorite
ingredients, which is ants,

and it is a challenging flavor
and texture for some people

to incorporate in the food.

The way that it worked
in your dish was fantastic.

I've never personally cooked
ants before. How did you do it?

I toasted them

and I was apologizing
to them at the same time.

My very first bite was a little,
like, bitter in a good way.

And then
I just kept going in there.

And then all the other flavors
brought it all together

and then brought us to you.

Thank you, chef.

Shuai, did your dish turn out

how you wanted it to?

Turned out, yeah, exactly
how I wanted it to turn out.

You know, yesterday,
when I ate that poplar bud,

it just kind
of numbed my whole mouth.

It was so spicy
that it just reminded me

of Sichuan peppercorns.

There were so many flavors
within the dish.

I tasted the medicine, but
I felt it more than anything.

Oh, my God. It was
an honor. Thank you so much.

This is just
absolutely beautiful.

I was jealous that
I didn't make this dish.

You could put that
in a three-star environment

and it would hold up.

Thank you, chef.
Thank you so much.

It was just bizarrely wonderful.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

Bailey, did everything
go out how you wanted it?

Today was sort of
a weird day for me

because I did a lot
of feeling it out.

But I was like, I don't know.
I don't know if it'll connect.

Bailey, yesterday,
when we first started foraging,

there was a little bit
of intimidation going there.

But today, you got that
inner forager to come out

and produced
something really unique.

It was really quite delicious.

It was odd at times,
but I have to say,

it was great to see you
do something feeling like you.

Thank you.

You cooked the peas
from dry today?

- The peas, yes.
-Yeah?

- How long did that take you?
- The whole time.

Yeah.

Perhaps
they were a second under,

but it felt
like a walk in the woods.

Thank you.

As you can tell by the comments,

it was absolutely
exceptional across the board.

We do have a lot to deliberate,

including who's gonna win
and who will be going home.

We'll call you back
in a little bit.

- Thank you.
- Thank you so much.

Thank you, chefs.

Oh, my God.

Well, we made it hard
for them to decide.

That's for damn sure.

Hey, congratulations, guys.

- Yeah.
- Congrats to everybody.

- We did it.
- Congratulations.

It was just
an exceptional day all around.

I mean, all of them
are worthy of winning.

I think the chefs listened
to the ingredients.

They put out exceptional dishes.

And every single one of them,
you know,

they're cooking their
best food right now.

It's a tough one.

I don't know,
a very new experience.

It was like,
tasting the broth, like,

"Okay, it needs more tree bark."

Yes, more. Right.

It needs more roots.

You just kind of want
to see everyone succeed

and go home at the same time.

- Yeah, exactly.
- I do have a favorite.

When Tristen's dish came out,
I ate it and was like,

"Nothing can be better
than this."

And Shuai's changed my mind.

Shuai's dish to me was
just really special.

It made me want to get in
the kitchen and cook something.

I believe that Tristen's
was an ultimate fusion

of the flavors
that are available,

used in such a unique way.

It was a toss-up for me
between Tristen and Shuai.

You know,
I just loved the humble cabbage.

But Tristen's
was spectacular, too.

Shuai's is just
the tiniest bit above for me.

And it's because I feel
surprised by a plate of cabbage.

And it's nothing remotely
recognizable to me

in my entire life.

Is anybody nervous?

I'm always nervous.

Yeah, I'm super nervous.

I almost was crying.

Yeah, they're gonna
start nitpicking

all the bad things now.

I mean, César's safe.

No one's saying anything
negative about César.

- He seems to be in the middle.
- Yeah.

A really good dish. On
any other day, he wins, right?

On any other day.

Bailey needs some cash.
We all have cash.

I don't think
I'm getting any cash

with a slightly
undercooked cowpea.

What about
Bailey's lovage sauce?

The flavor profile,
I thought,

was well in balance
with everything else.

I thought it was a really nice
complement to the whole dish.

And I loved it,
actually, with the lamb.

I think she was
a bit more adventurous

with the
well-crafted ingredients

and that's what's impressing me
a little bit more.

There were a couple of
technical mistakes for me

in Bailey's dish.

The beans were slightly
under and she knew that.

-Yeah.
-See, I had more

of an issue with the birch glaze

and the roasted garlic.

But I think the dish
as a whole ate really well.

Mm-hmm.

It's hard to use wild
ingredients because they end up

all being neutralized
by their extreme strong flavors.

I really want to go to Italy

so I could finally cook Italian
food in this competition.

Massimo,
the trout was perfectly cooked.

The sauces were really nice.

I loved the mustard
chutney that he made.

I thought that was really,
really good as a condiment.

But everyone knows
what mustard tastes like.

It's not really getting
outside of your box

and trying something new.

With his bannock,
the flavors of the condiments

and the garnish on top
were incredibly strong.

It made the dish
feel a bit disconnected.

Like, either way this goes,
I'll probably just weep.

So.

It's really hard

when you have these
five spectacular dishes

and we're nitpicking them.

That was hard,

but we do have our answers.

I believe so, yes.

All right,
let's get the chefs out here.

Chefs, just
an exceptional day all around,

and you all did remarkable.

But as we know,
there can only be one winner.

Tracy and Brenda,
as our guest judges,

you get to announce our winner.

So, our chef that won
today really utilized

the foraging ingredients
very well

and put a lot of heart
and soul and skill

into a beautiful dish.

And the winner is...

- Shuai.
- Oh, my God.

Congratulations, Shuai.

- You just won $10,000.
- Oh, my God.

But you also
just secured your spot

in the finals in the Milan, congratulations.

How do you feel?

Ooh, wow. Um...

I'm-- I'm-- I'm speechless.

You just spoke volumes.

You can be speechless.

Thank you so much.

I'm going to Milan!

The last time I was this happy
was when my wife said yes.

So, it's the first time
I'm going to Italy,

it's through Top Chef,
which is nuts.

I'm so, so, so, so, so excited.

Tristen and César...

you're also moving on
to the finals in Milan.

Congratulations.

César, how do you feel?

I can't wait to tell my mom.

Yeah.

That's the right answer, César.

I'm in the finals of Top Chef.

I'm going to Italy.
I've never been there.

I've never been to Europe.

So, this is gonna be amazing.
I can't wait.

How about you, Tristen?

I can't wait to tell my mom.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

I just want to make him proud.

I think you've
already done that.

Yeah.

Unfortunately, that does mean
Massimo or Bailey,

one of you will not be moving
on to the finals in Milan.

We would have loved to take
all five of you to Milan,

but unfortunately, one of you

will be just falling
a little short.

Kristen.

Massimo,
please pack your knives and go.

Oh, that hurts.

Yeah. It hurt for me to say it.

Yeah. Okay.

You've made Canada
very, very proud, Massimo.

Gail, don't make me cry now.

I've made mistakes.
I've learned from them.

Today, maybe
just four other chefs

had a better dish than I did.

I had a great time.

Nothing is
tainting this experience.

Massimo, I truly looked forward
to seeing you every morning.

I really did.

Thank you. Likewise.

I've never been to Montreal,

but my first stop
is your restaurant.

-Please.
- Come over here.

What's next is
I'm gonna hug my children

until they're blue in the face.

And then I look forward
to serving people every day

for the rest of my life.

Bailey, congratulations...

- Thank you.
- ...to you for making it

to the finals
and going to Milan.

Well done.

I can't wait to tell my family,
and my chef, and my cats.

And, it's gonna be amazing.

You all did the work,

and it is because of your skill
and your talent

and your willingness to adapt to
this crazy game of Top Chef

and all the challenges
that are thrown at you

and you
have made it to the finals.

And I just, I could not be
more proud of all four of you.

CÉSAR: You deserve it.

Congratulations. Go celebrate!

Go celebrate. You deserve it.
Yeah. Congrats.

Thank you.

Get over here.

Next time onTop Chef...

Welcome to Milan.

You'll be cooking in
the ultimate culinary matchup.

Since this is the last challenge
before the finale,

we brought in some
reinforcements to help you.

Four Team USA Olympians
and Paralympians.

This is more exciting
than the start line.

Oh, my gosh.

I wanna just absolutely crush.

Oh! Oh.

Oh, my gosh.

They look stressed.

- I'm sure they are.
-Focused. Focused.

Oh, wow.

This dish was
brilliant, honestly.

I'm not sure about that.

We're gonna hold up our
paddles on the count of three.

One.

Two.

Three.