They made a big point about sous-vide salmon and how its not good cooked sous-vide. Well, I beg to differ. I trust that Richard knows his stuff, and what could have been better for that dish was if they made the cut of salmon no bigger than 2" x 2", and maybe layered with something like diced rosted bell peppers with a dressing that complemented the peppers and the salmon. That just big hunk of salmon was a bit too much. The point is that they had many dishes to go, and you let them just have a taste that will want them wanting more.
And the vacuum sealed bag checkered pattern it left on the fish is never appetizing. The vacuum sealed bags has a smooth side and a patterned side. When you're sous viding anything, use the checkered pattern on the side that's not going to be facing up on the dish. The problem was they did not decide if they were going to present skin side down or up until it was cooked. I think the wild salmon's color is beautiful on a white dish. Definitely should have decided skin side down from the beginning. Maybe Richard thought since their team is water, the skin would be more with the theme, but where would you put the tapioca roe? And do you expect people to flip their fish (or skin it) as they eat it? Maybe a lesson to take away when plating the dish is to visualize the plating, then visualize how they would eat it.
I'm not really rooting for anyone on this season just yet. I think Andrew is a funny guy, but definitely don't see him winning it. The girls...I still can't believe that girl that made a Chicago style pizza look more like a round sourdough bread with toppings on it is still there. One-dimensional is a word that comes to my mind. Dale seems like he is just too happy to be talking to the camera and causing attention to himself. He talks a big game. Sometimes he delivers, sometimes he doesn't. His conflicting message is cancelling out any kind of judgement I have on him. Spike's leadership level is like 2 out of 10, and I think you need to be at 6 out of 10 with room to improve to get to the top 4. The lesbian couple....blah. There is the butch one, and then there is the butchier one. Why can't we have 2 hot lesbians instead? And that New Zealander with his Marmite.....has potential, learns quickly, but also sounds like he lacks a lot of experience. His choices sound like they are often way too experimental, not refined or sophisticated. Richard, is definitely in it to win it. Showing some leadership skills. Just a tad boring. But then again, did Harold (Season 1 Winner) and Ilan (Season 2 Winner) have anything interesting about them? No. Everyone else is forgettable I guess. Are there more women on this show this season? Seems that way. They all seem to be short light brown haired girls with a orangish complexion (almost ginger). Where is the token black guy this season and the loud and proud black woman? Oh, and the 50 something blonde basketcase is missing too. Variety is the spice of Top Chef.
