01x02 - Oh Matsutake, Where Art Thou?

[bunniefuu]

Big pile of bear.

There are not a lot
of oysters intact.

I'm worried.

Oh, wow!

Look how low the tide is!

But I don't see anything, buddy.

Watch your footing here.
It's pretty thick.

- Ah!
- You all right?

Lord Jesus,
there's a fire.

Two world-class chefs
dropped into the wilderness.

Every second counts
in this competition.

We get one shot.

Their mission, to find
enough wild ingredients

to make a five-star meal.

Found one.

It's not your ordinary day
at the grocery store.

And here on the coast
of British Columbia,

the chefs will use
those ingredients

to battle it out and see whose
forage feast reigns supreme.

Wow.

My menu changes
depending on what I find.

I'm Kiran Jethwa,

international chef
and restaurateur.

I've traveled the globe
to collect

and cook
incredible wild foods.

And here in this competition,
only chefs with skills

in both the wilderness
and the kitchen will prevail.

If I mess this up,
the whole dish will suffer.

This is Chefs vs. Wild.

In British Columbia,
the final elk mating calls

signal the end of fall
as massive bulls leave

for their rutting grounds
to fatten up

before the winter season.

For the two chefs
headed to Hardy Island,

that means
even stiffer competition

in their hunt
for wild ingredients.

The chefs have elk ribs
waiting for them

in the wilderness kitchen.

But on Hardy Island,
they'll contend

with extremely
difficult terrain,

from steep woods
to boggy marshes.

These next few days
will test the chefs'

culinary intelligence
and endurance.

One wrong step
can cause a massive setback.

My name is Nico Albert.

I'm a Cherokee Nation citizen,
and I'm a chef.

I've been the executive chef

of quite a few
different restaurants.

And now I run my business,

Burning Cedar
Indigenous Foods.

I do caterings all the time,

and I do a lot of teaching
about how we can use

our ancestors' foods
to restore our health

in our communities.

I feel like this competition
is using every skill

that I've built
and every connection I've made

with the land to push myself
to create something beautiful.

My name is Alan Bergo.
I'm a chef.

I'm a writer.
I'm a forager.

I've run kitchens for some

of the biggest
award-winning restaurants

in the Midwest.

But after 15 years
sacrificing family and friends

to the restaurant industry,

I don't have to work
in a kitchen anymore.

Now instead
of running restaurants,

I'm outside studying
plants and mushrooms

and writing about it.

I like to refer to myself

as half Indiana Jones,
half Anthony Bourdain.

I think I'm the best chef here

because I have spent
decades studying wild food

and working
with professional foragers.

I don't know a lot
of other people like that.

Nico has landed
on a heavily-forested section

of Hardy Island,
where she will link up

with her foraging partner, Greg.

The area is near a dense marsh

with leafy greens
and mushrooms,

which will pair well
with their gifted protein

of elk ribs.

But while Nico's prowess in
the kitchen is unquestionable,

navigating the rugged terrain
here will push

the chef's endurance
to the limit.

I hear voices.

- Hello!
- NICO Hello.

Oh, it's great to see you.

You too.

- Let the adventure begin.
- Yes.

We are going to be getting
elk ribs for the entrée,

- so that's good.
- Yeah.

I definitely want
to find some marshier areas

and see if we can't
find mushrooms

and some different
edible roots.

I noticed
over that direction,

it was a lot more marshy.

I'm not sure
if that's gonna work,

but we can come up
and look at it.

Well, let's take a look.

Big pile of bear.

I hope I don't see any bears.
That would suck.

Alan has arrived
on the opposite side

of the island
to meet his partner, Baha.

While the area is abundant
with shellfish and fruit,

they must contend
with local black bears,

who are scouring for food
to prepare for the winter.

Oh, I thought
I was gonna see a bear.

Are you the chef
I'm waiting for?

- Yes, I'm Alan.
- I'm Baha.

- Nice to meet you.
- Good to meet you.

I think our priority
is going to be

to go mushroom hunting.

Absolutely.

So I was thinking we could
head down to the marsh.

I'm good
to head to the marsh.

Okay.

I'm just kind of
slowly making my way.

Now, here's something.

Now,
those are licorice ferns.

...Oh, I see.
...It's a good find.

If you nibble on the root,
it has a licorice flavor.

Sweet anise flavor
from the root

will go great in some kind
of cake or biscuit for dessert.

All right.
Well, let's head that way.

Keep heading that way.

When COVID hit,
I essentially got

laid off from the restaurant
that I helped open.

They reopened,
but they didn't hire me back.

I felt depressed.

I felt completely lost
as to my identity,

but it was also
a time of healing

for me to realize
the long hours

and the stress
in the restaurant industry

were things
that I needed to let go.

I don't ever want
to put myself in a position

where cooking is a burden.

I think these... hmm.

- Witch's butter are yellow.
- Whoa, weird.

- The color is great.
- So that's good.

Greg found
this witch's butter,

and my first thought was,
what if we candied this?

We could just, like,
bury them in sugar.

They'd be like a gummy.

That's what
we're looking for.

For sure.

I'm Greg Chaney,
and I'm from Juneau, Alaska,

and I'm a retired lands manager

for the city
and borough of Juneau.

I'm very comfortable
in the outdoors.

It's dangerous,
but that's the beauty of it.

I am competitive.

Mostly, I just want to do
a good job for the chef,

to give them the resources
they need to win this.

Keep an eye out.

Our main mission
is mushrooms,

but if you see
any edible plants or fruit,

point them out.

And here are
some thistle roots.

These can actually make
a decent vegetable.

Yeah.

It may take
a little trimming.

I found some thistle roots.

They're actually related
to artichokes.

Good score today.

It's gonna be great
with our elk.

I love it
when the roots are exposed.

It's kind of sexy.

I've been working
in restaurants 12 hours a day,

five, six days a week.

I've been
through the meat grinder.

I'd say I probably
have a little PTSD,

but I think not going back
to the restaurant industry,

to be a masterless samurai
just out in the wilderness,

was a huge sacrifice.

I think winning
in this competition

is really just showing that
I made the right decision.

Oh, oh, oh!
Come here.

Check out this huckleberry.

Oh, hey, nice.

Yeah, these are looking good.

We need
a bigger container.

What I'll do
with these is cook them

until the huckleberries
get juicy

with a pinch
of sugar for dessert.

I think that's it
for this bush, eh?

Yeah.

I'm Baha Makhmudov
and a full-time homesteader.

I was raised in Kyrgyzstan,
riding horseback

in the mountains in some places
that nobody ever been before.

In the military,
I received survival training

that solidified
my outdoor skills.

I am pretty confident we're
going to win this competition.

Well, let's try this way.

It looks a little
bit more open.

I think I see some marsh
over that way.

We need
to get a little higher.

I'm hoping to find oyster
mushrooms and chanterelles.

And I'm feeling confident

because there's
always food in the marsh.

And chanterelles
prefer higher elevations.

This is kind of steep here.

Step towards where my foot is.

Oh.

One of the things that
will be a challenge for me

is that I'm not
in peak physical shape here.

I'm happy
to give you a hand again.

Yeah.
Well, just give me a second.

We're limited on time,
and I have to be able

to move as fast as I can

to find the things
that I need.

There it is.

- Get it? You got it?
- Got it.

I'd like to be able
to prove to myself

that I can do this.

And so I hope
that Greg will respect that.

Hold on.

Do you think
there'll be matsutakes here?

I think there
would absolutely be,

but it can take some time
to root them out.

I am really determined
to find some decent mushrooms,

specifically matsutakes.

They're not easy to find,
and the smell is incredible.

It's like cinnamon
and pine forest.

That will help me
win the competition.

Man, this place break a leg.

I'm afraid to fall
through into something

that I will never come out.

I don't think
there's a good way

to get any way in here.

But matsutakes like
to grow near pine,

and this is
the most direct path

to those pine trees ahead.

This is like
an obstacle course, you know?

Please be careful.

Proceed with caution
through here.

- Ooh.
- Yeah.

Just take your time.

We kind of had a plan
to just head inland

and see what we could find.

It's definitely
unknown terrain.

It's different than home.

But the way to be successful
in a challenge like this

is to be able to improvise

with what I am seeing
and just adapt.

I was thinking
about just, like...

just walking
over there fairly quickly

and coming back just to see
if I can find the marsh.

Yeah, see what you can see.
Sounds good.

I'm gonna keep
looking around here.

Okay.

This is gonna be kind of tough.

Nico's moving slower.

I really feel
like we need to move faster

and try to make things happen.

There's a little bit
of pressure there,

so we've split up for a while.

I think I'll be more successful
foraging on my own.

- Hey.
- What do you see?

I think I found matsutake.

- No way.
- Take a look.

At first glance,
it looks pretty convincing.

In Japan, samurai used
to harvest matsutake.

They used to be worth
their weight in silver.

It's not a matsutake.

- Well, what is it?
- It's a Lactarius.

Speak English to me.

It's called a milk cap,
so it means that the mushroom

will lactate when you cut it.

It could potentially be edible.

I probably wouldn't take them.

...No?
...I'm a little stuck up.

There's usually
so many better ones.

I don't know
about this bush, buddy.

Man, we're gonna
lose that light.

Oh, my God.

I can feel the cold coming.

I just want to go back
and make sure

that that fire is going
because not freezing

at night or getting hypothermia
is gonna take priority.

Wowy-zowy, like the bonanza.

This mushroom
is an edible variety,

so hopefully,
she can incorporate it.

Tastes like unseasoned pasta.

Nico's gonna be really happy
with this.

- Hello!
- Hi.

I'm getting
a little tired, but...

Yeah.

I did find
this poor old moss...

- Or mushroom.
- Awesome.

Greg came upon this incredible
cauliflower mushroom.

It's such an incredible find
to pair with the elk.

This should not
have anything else

but just a touch of butter.

Some things just
shouldn't be manipulated.

That's gonna work well.

As we reach
the midpoint of foraging,

Nico has the edge over Alan,
thanks to Greg's

extraordinary and elusive
cauliflower mushroom find.

So I'm looking forward
to how Nico will prepare it.

Alan is taking a huge gamble

by focusing
on only rare mushrooms,

and it could cost him.

For now,
both teams will be focusing

on maintaining shelter fires

as the temperature
at night drops

by more than 10 degrees.

It's getting pretty cold.

It makes it so you don't
get a ton of sleep.

If we don't get the fire
hot enough,

that's a real problem.

So this is our fire system.

Oh,.

Lord Jesus, that's a fire.

So we put some ferns
on top of these logs

to waterproof our fire setup,

but now our entire fire setup
is completely screwed.

Oh, man, it's smoky.
That's a mess.

We decided to go

and visit the shore

because tide is at the lowest.

Baha had the idea
to go down to the coast

to see if we can get
any shellfish.

I am really tired.

Last night, the ferns above
our fireplace caught fire.

That is a fire right there.

Yeah, that's a mess.
Tarp has holes.

Yeah, it burned through.

The fire, it's only embers.

You can feel it.

Now everything's, like, cold.

That was terrifying.

Thank God nothing burned
except the ferns.

But I'm just
really sleep deprived

because it gets really cold.

It's been a struggle.

Oh, wow.

Look how low the tide is.

But I don't see anything, buddy.

It looks like it's all rock.

First thing
we did this morning was

to head down to the beach
at low tide

and look for oysters,
and mussels, and clams

for my first course.

Well, there's a lot
of shells here,

but there are not a lot
of oysters intact.

- Yeah.
- Everything's empty.

Ooh,
that's a pretty one though.

Oh, it's empty though.

It looks like some critter

has been harvesting them.

Yeah, definitely looks like

somebody beat us to the punch
on these ones.

If we can't find oysters,
I would have no idea

what to serve as an appetizer.

Barnacles, barnacles.

Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Look, there's the oysters.

Holy moly.

There's oysters
on top of oysters.

Man alive,
there's a ton of them.

Mama oyster, papa oyster.

I didn't think
there was gonna be anything,

and now there's
like a thousand oysters.

I'm worried.

I think there's another beach
in our territory,

and we can look at that.

My gut is telling me
to find something else

for our appetizer,
but Greg came through for me

yesterday,
so I'm gonna trust him.

Tomorrow morning at low tide,

we'll try another beach.

- All right, sounds good.
- All right.

Oh, look, I got little
crabby, crabby, crabbies.

Look.
Do they bite?

Ah!
They do bite.

Nice.

Even though there's not a lot
of meat on them,

I can roast the crabs
and then bash them up,

and then we'll
cook them with oil.

And the oil is gonna take on
the flavor of the crab.

It's one of the coolest
crustacean cooking secrets

that I know of.

I'm gonna make
a crab-infused butter,

drizzle it on top
of the oysters.

It'll be a really wild take

on oyster Rockefeller.

These oysters are great,

but unless I can find
the perfect mushroom,

my menu's incomplete,
and time isn't on my side.

You need a hand over there?

I'm, like,
climbing this tree,

and it's disintegrating
every step I take.

Yeah.
I mean, you want to grab my arm?

Here, I think I got it, like...

- Okay.
- If I do this.

There we go, okay.

It is down to the wire here.

We're gonna head
into the woods.

I'm looking
to find a lot of berries,

but the physical challenge
of the terrain and the fatigue

of my muscles is something

that I've been
most worried about.

Those are huckleberries?

Yeah, there we go.
Wow!

These are perfect actually.

The huckleberries
have the sweetness

and the tartness
I need to make

a berry barbecue type of glaze

with the elk ribs
for the entrée.

It just works really well
with, like,

a good, charred fire flavor.

That works.

I think maybe we should
kind of head toward camp

before it gets dark.

Let's do it.
We'll make it happen.

As we near
the foraging endgame,

Alan has come storming back

with an impressive haul
of shellfish,

including some small shore crabs

that should pack big flavor.

Although Nico's beach
expedition was less fruitful,

she's found huckleberries,
and I wouldn't count her out.

But with time dwindling,
both chefs are racing

to find their remaining
big-ticket ingredients.

More oysters is our mission.

Yeah.

- Ah!
- You all right?

Oh, my gosh.

If you need help,
I'll come back and get you.

Got it.

Nico's awesome.

She seems to be willing
to roll with the punches.

She's up for anything.

Maybe I helped her out
a little bit here and there,

but she's very skilled
in her own right.

She's definitely tough.

When she falls, she gets right
back up and keeps on going.

Oh,!

- There we go.
- All right.

Got it.

Unbelievable, this terrain.

I'm under a time crunch.

I just want
to find some mushrooms.

There are some
little white mushrooms.

These look like
angel wings to me.

I probably wouldn't take them.

No?
Are those turkey tails?

Yeah, those look to be,

but they're more of,
like, a medicinal.

Ah.

I'm picky.

I'm not going to use
a subpar mushroom.

I came in wanting matsutake,

and I didn't find
a single one.

If there aren't any matsies,

I'll probably focus
on chanterelles.

They're one
of my favorite mushrooms,

just really extra special.

But if we don't find those,

I'll probably focus
on leafy green plants.

I'll figure
something else out.

This challenge
really tests your stamina.

I don't know
if I can climb another step.

Another beach.

Our salvation, or maybe.

We'll see.

We're finally
at this different beach

that Greg wanted to find.

Nico, I'm just gonna look
in these rocks

and see if I can find
where the oysters are.

Okay.

I definitely put my faith
in my partner on this one.

Ah, here's one.

Look at this.
Two good-sized ones.

There's plenty of oysters.

Oh, yep, that'll work.

- Oh, wow.
- Yeah, that's a good one.

I mean, there's
definitely no shortage here.

I'm just so grateful.

There's plenty of oysters

for my first course.

Oysters,
we can check off the list.

Like, we're good on that.

So there's a pretty nice little
colony of mussels over here.

They're small,
but they're gonna have

little bites of meat.

You know, if they're tasty,

they'll make a good addition
to my appetizer.

How'd you do over there?

I found sea lettuce,

and it's okay to eat.

- Just like that?
- Yep.

Do you think it would
crisp up if we did, like, a...

Oh, there's a lot
of stuff you can do with it.

Yeah?

If we roasted it,
it would be nice.

Yeah.

I had, like, this vision
of what that first course

should look like.

I'm thinking roast up
some oysters

with steamed mussels.

And the sea lettuce,

it has
a really nice ocean flavor.

It'll be a perfect complement
to the oyster

ground up into a pesto.

Nice call on moving
to the other beach, Greg.

When my restaurant shut down,

I didn't have the confidence

to accomplish
something like this.

But I'm really proud
of myself.

I really pushed myself.

I feel stronger,
and that's real.

Onward.

Oh, what's this?

Pick it up.
Let me see the underside.

It's called a viscid cap.

Yeah, so what you'd say is,
the smell is not distinctive.

So we'll forget about those.
All we want is chanterelles.

I am concerned

that we haven't
found a lot of mushrooms.

I think Alan
has higher expectations,

but I don't know
if we have the time.

One of the tricks
that I know about foraging

is that if you find areas
where two places meet,

that is a good place
for food to be found.

I can see that there's
kind of a clearing up ahead,

so I'm hoping
I'm gonna be able to get

some decent mushrooms.

Ooh, look.

There's a couple nettles,
just as I thought.

These are stinging nettles,
and these are one

of the most nutritious plants
that I know of.

They kind of make kale
look like a joke.

I can use these nettles
in my oysters Rockefeller.

There's a good sign
there's more variety here.

But I came here for mushrooms,

and I'm leaving
with mushrooms.

Mature hemlock,
lots of moss

equals chanterelles.

Hey, chants.

Chanterelles.
Chanterelles.

Baha, we found mushrooms!

It's chanterelles.

And there's more.
There's more.

Chanterelles are one
of the most prized mushrooms

around the world.

They have a sort of apricot
and fruity aroma.

I think some quick
pickled chanterelles

will really bring
the elk ribs over the top.

How are you feeling?

Pretty damn good.

This was definitely one of the
hardest things I've ever done.

Physically, I'm really busted up,

but being able
to hunt an ingredient

in its natural habitat
is just incredible.

This is the reason I left
the restaurant industry

to be a forager,
expand my horizons.

I'm feeling great.

Yeah, I can see you're happy.

Uh-huh.

Oh, goodness.
This is gonna be good.

I'm hungry.

It's the morning
of the competition,

and we decided
to reward ourselves

with a quick oyster breakfast
before heading to the kitchen.

Here, this one's popped.

- This one?
- Yeah.

It's a little
opened up already.

Weird.
Is that empty?

Oh!

Jeez.

What?

Another empty oyster.

- Every single one...
- We better hope...

For our last meal here.

We better hope that,

when we get
to the cooking challenge,

they're not all empty.

We have absolutely no time

to go back and find oysters.

If all the shells are empty,
I'm walking into that kitchen

without an appetizer.

I see Alan and Baha,
and I'm thinking,

"He's a master forager."

It's been pushing me
knowing that I have

a very formidable opponent.

It also makes me nervous
that I'm

possibly going up against him
with empty oyster shells.

I know Nico's got
some serious chops,

and I am more tired
than I have been

in a very long time,

but I did not spend

those days in the wilderness
to come here and lose.

Oh, wow.

- Look at that.
- Whoo!

- All right.
- Wow.

Baha, over here.

It is the most beautiful
outdoor kitchen

that I have ever seen.

It looks like something
I'd make myself.

Everything is just so rustic
and beautifully arranged.

It's like,
all the fatigue drains away,

and I just want
to get in there.

Chefs, teams, you made it!

Welcome
to my wilderness kitchen.

You name it,
if fire uses it, we have it.

Let me introduce you
to Valerie Segrest,

our wild edibles expert.

I am so excited to have seen
that you've immersed yourself

in the bounty of the lands.

Survivalists, you guys
are now the sous chefs.

I'm excited
because this means food.

Working as teams
is entirely gonna determine

the fate of the food.

You guys have just four hours

to create an appetizer,
an entrée, and a dessert

using your wild foraged ingredients,

as well as your gifted protein,
elk ribs.

- Here they are.
- They're gorgeous.

For Indigenous people
of the Northwest Coast,

the elk is
a real keystone species.

Bringing that animal home
to our community

and feeding everybody
is a unifying moment.

How you use
your culinary expertise

to make your wild foraged
treasures pop on the plate,

that is what
I am judging today.

Feeling the pressure a bit?

It's time
to get cooking, man.

Yeah, I like that.

Enough talking.
Let's get cooking.

Let's go.

- Thank you.
- Have fun with those.

- Yeah.
- Oh, I will.

The first thing
I'm gonna have you do

is just help me
wash everything.

Buddy, you look professional.

I'm dead serious.

I'm at the top of my game,

and I'm not gonna
let Nico take me down.

I'm definitely nervous.

There's no room
for mistakes here.

This has to be perfect
the first time.

When I'm butchering game
at home,

this is the hardest thing.

- There it is.
- There we go.

For my entrée,
I'll be preparing

spicy huckleberry
barbecue-glazed elk rib,

serving that over a bed

of sautéed
cauliflower mushroom.

I'm doing the elk ribs first

because I'm going
to slow cook them.

I want them to have
as much time as possible

because it's a very lean meat.

I want it to be really tender
when it comes out.

So now is the magic.

What you doing?
What's that?

I'm crushing the crabs
in the mortar and pestle.

So for the appetizer,

I need to take some oysters,
cook them,

and then
we're gonna put them

into the shell
with a little bit

of cooked nettles
on the bottom.

Hopefully, I'm gonna make
a little butter sauce

with the wild crab butter.

These are your crabs?

Yeah,
those are the wild crabs.

You ever made
crustacean butter?

Yes, I think
that's all you can do

with those little crabs,
isn't it?

It's about the only thing
you can do.

Baha, do you like the energy
of a kitchen?

I'll take the hiking through
the bush over it, but yeah.

- Hey, Nico.
- Yes.

I have a question for you.

Okay.

What is that in the corner
of your roasting pan?

That's the licorice fern root.

And we're going
to use that to infuse

some sweet polenta cakes
for dessert.

Okay, I'm not gonna
ask you about the mushroom

because I want to be...

- You want to be surprised?
- Surprised.

Yes.

Oh, God, smell that.

All right, guys!
Two-hour mark.

- You're halfway!
- Two hours.

We're in a time crunch here.

Okay,
I got your thistle roots.

Where do you want them?

The entrée is the elk ribs.

I grilled the ribs.

You cook them slowly.

And then I'm going
to put them into the pot

with a little bit
of the elk stock

to get these ribs
to start getting tender.

With the rib,
there's a little bit

of the sautéed thistle roots
and a mushroom conserve

made from chanterelles.

I always clean chanterelles
with water.

One speck of dirt is not
doing honor to the mushrooms.

He's so demanding...

in a good way.

Ah.

I want to make sure
we get all actual oysters.

Not little shell oysters.

These all look like
oysters to you, right?

Ah, now you're
putting it on me.

Yes, I am.

The appetizer that we're
doing is a coal-roasted oyster

topped with an ocean pesto
with the sea lettuce

and pickled
pink huckleberries.

But will there even be oysters
inside the shells?

These are the thistle roots.

I'm just testing the texture.

Ten more minutes or so.

It's a chef's dream.

The freshest ingredients
you can ever have

are the ones
that you'll pick yourself.

Am I one of the ingredients?

You are one
of the ingredients

I harvested in the wild.

This is dessert.

The licorice fern root
actually has a lot

of sweetness to it,
so I didn't want

to add too much sugar.

Chefs, you have
one hour remaining.

Use it wisely.
Good luck.

- You're almost there.
- Okay, let's go.

I need you over here, Greg.

Those berries might do it.
You want to pull the stems off?

Yes, now that we've got all

of these beautiful
little berries sorted,

we're gonna be making

a tiny, little
huckleberry barbecue glaze.

It can be tricky
when you glaze stuff

because sugar loves
to just burn up on you.

Okay, right now,
get the huckleberries.

Get the huckleberries.

Try to get as many
of the stems off as you can.

Yeah.

Just gonna make some crepes
with this acorn flour,

and the pastry cream

will have the huckleberries
cooked on top of it.

When you're in the kitchen,
you always say,

"behind you,"
when you're behind someone.

Okay.

How we looking on oysters?

This one is just open.

Okay,
it's the moment of truth.

These are great.

These are gonna work.

Let's go ahead
and pull all of them,

and then I need you
to come help me over here.

That pesto... grind, grind away.

Man,
that is a delicate touch.

- Seaweed is tough.
- All right, you k*lled it.

Take a sniff.

Mmm.

Holy, dude.

Yeah, that's awesome, huh?

- Oh, my God.
- Mm-hmm.

That's better
than I thought it was gonna be.

So we're gonna put
the pastry cream here.

I learned from a chef
from Rome

this is how
we would do risotto.

Not like that.
damn.

See?
Now everyone's watching.

- Now I can't do it.
- Yeah.

It's, like, alive.

If it's good enough

for the three-star
Michelin restaurant Saison,

it's good enough for me.

Chefs, ten minutes left.

Let's go.

I'm making wild crab
butter hollandaise.

If the hollandaise gets
too warm or too cold,

both of those things can
make it curdle and separate,

and then you are
completely screwed.

So it's something you want
to do at the last minute.

My hollandaise is
the fluffiest, silkiest

that you will ever taste.

This is some witch's butter.

This is gonna
garnish our dessert.

Hopefully, it'll turn out kind of like

a little forest gummy bear.

Five minutes left!

Get plating!

Behind you.

You're nearly at the end
of your epic journeys

because you only have
one minute left.

- Get it done, guys.
- Right.

- Just like this?
- Yes, and directly on top.

This one's
the money shot right here.

30 seconds.

Now is the time
to finish those plates.

Sorry, Greg.
I'm just gonna do my thing.

Staying out of the way.

Five, four, three,

two, one.

Put it all down.
You guys...

- Is that it?
- Are done.

Well done.

20 more seconds
would have been great.

Would have been great.

- Chefs, you did it.
- We did it.

Nico, we will start
with your appetizer.

This is an oyster
that we've coal roasted,

topped with an ocean pesto

made with seaweed
that we found.

And then there's steamed
mussels to go along with that.

I've pickled
some pink huckleberries

to balance it out.

I think the pesto
is a wonderful blend

of that seaweed
that's in there.

It's got
that nice balance to it.

I really taste the sea
in the seaweed.

The sweetness of the mussel
also really complements it.

- I'm very happy with that.
- Thank you.

Okay, Alan.
Tell us about this.

So it's a riff
on wild oysters Rockefeller.

I have nettles
and then a hollandaise

made from pounded wild crabs.

Nettles have such
a mineral flavor to it.

They make you feel like
you're drinking milk

because they have
that same mouthfeel.

I love
the thought process here

of a wild oysters Rockefeller.

I love the idea
of the nettles under there.

Nettle's quite creamy.

It'll give you
that sumptuous texture

in your mouth,
and that comes through.

Don't get the crab.
I'm just looking for it.

I'm not finding it.

But other than that,
great dish, man.

Well done.

Okay, Alan, next dish.

Tell us about this entrée.

You have the elk rib
braised in a little bit

of oatmeal stout,
boiled thistle roots

cooked in duck fat,
and a chanterelle conserve.

It's almost like
the elk is the sideshow here.

That thistle root
is just outstanding.

The chanterelles have
been treated beautifully.

Who would have thought
that I'd have got an elk rib,

and I'm actually going
for the thistle root.

Okay, so, Nico, tell us

about this plate
of beautiful elk.

We have the elk rib
I cut into a short rib

with barbecue sauce made
with huckleberry.

And then it's served on a bed
of cauliflower mushrooms.

So I hope you enjoy.

First of all,

I've never eaten
a cauliflower mushroom.

Well done.

You did absolutely
the right thing

in not messing with it too much

because it really is delicious.

And I think the texture
of it is quite incredible.

I mean, it's literally...

Yeah, it's like
perfect al dente...

- It's just...
- Butter noodles.

It's butter noodles
but better.

I really feel privileged
to have eaten this ingredient

because not many people
in the world will have.

I was concerned about the elk
because you have

to cook them differently to
make that meat really tender,

and you did it.

And the ribs, again,
it's an expl*si*n of flavor.

The sauce that you've made
with the huckleberries,

very intense flavors.

It's good cooking,
really good cooking.

Thank you.

I would say your presentation
could have been

a little bit more refined.

You've done the excellence
of the flavor disservice

from the messy presentation.

You two are making our lives
next to nearly impossible,

so one of you had better have
messed up your dessert course.

Nico, your dessert, please.

So here you have

licorice fern root
infused polenta cake.

It's topped
with candied witch's butter

and huckleberry.

I simmered the licorice root
in milk and cream

to make the corn grits.

I'm really liking
the process behind

how you've built this dish.

It's sumptuous.

There's texture
from how you fried it.

There's texture
from the berries.

I would pump up the licorice
fern a little bit more.

It's a really nice flavor.
I want a bit more of it.

And I'm, like,
surprised at how minty

that witch's butter candy is.

So I have to give
props to Greg

because that
is his forestry knowledge

that he brought to the table
out in the field...

Aww.

Because I would
not have known anything

about what that was.

Nico,
you're doing yourself proud.

I'm so impressed.
Honestly, well done.

Alan, for the last dish,
tell us.

It's all about
the huckleberries.

I wanted to put a pile
of them on something,

so I made crepes
from acorn flour,

pastry cream
with a little bit of caramel.

Delicious eating.

I think it's balanced.

There's enough sweetness
from the caramel

in the pastry cream
to carry the dessert.

And this pile of berries
is just... you just want

to keep going back for more.

The huckleberries
are the star.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

And I mean,
that's very, very obvious.

Because food activates
memories so well,

there's this really
special elder in my life

who makes
a beautiful acorn soup,

and she puts
huckleberries in it.

Really?

And that's what
I'm remembering.

For me, it's just,
like, seasonal.

It's home.

It's really,
really, really good.

Thank you.

You basically
have made everything

entirely impossible.

- Ridiculous.
- Yes.

I think we're going to send
you back out in the wild

and leave you there.

I know.

Where you clearly belong.

We've got some stuff
to think about here.

I thought Kiran
and Valerie really appreciated

what I was trying to portray
in some of the dishes.

And seeing Valerie light up
eating mountains and handfuls

of berries, you know,
I could tell

that that resonated with her.

I really think
Greg and I achieved

something incredible here.

I've worked with a lot
of sous chefs

that wouldn't have done
as well as he did today.

I think that a lot
of that came

from our bonding experience
in the wilderness

to be able to mesh well
in the kitchen here today.

Oh, well, guys, here we are,

at the end
of this epic adventure.

There was one
very clear mission here,

which was
to create incredible food

from the ingredients
that you foraged from the wild.

And you absolutely knocked that
out of the park.

Well done.

Both approached your dishes

in your own
so beautifully unique way,

and I'm super into it.

But at the end of the day,
this is a competition.

By the slimmest of margins,

the chef who has won
this challenge earned this

based on overall presentation

and making
their foraged ingredients

shine more
in the entrée and dessert.

- Alan.
- Yeah!

Yeah, buddy!

Yes, that's my guy!

Oh!

I'm bummed that we
didn't come out on top,

but I think
what I'm taking away from this

is a renewed faith
in my strength.

Now I know what I can take,

and it's a lot more
than I thought I could.

This was definitely one
of the hardest things

I've ever done.

I don't even know
if it's sunk in yet.

I'm really thankful for Baha.

I never expected
a survivalist to throw down

in the kitchen with me.

We did it, and it feels great,

but not as great
as a shower is gonna feel.