Top Chef ™
Baker:
Season:
Week:
Challenge Type:
Charred Pickles, Cured Mackerel and Pickle Variations
Tristen: "Mackerel. I'll take all three. That was a fish that was always preserved a lot. I worked in Sweden for a little bit of time, and Canada and Scandinavia is actually almost on the same latitude. That's why some similar preservation methods can be used. So I'm going to treat the mackerel like the Swedish treat herring."
Tristen: "I'm going to char some pickles and cure some mackerel, and then do that with a couple of different cucumber variations."
Tristen: "I'm burning pickles to get that caramelization. Because I have a lighter dish, burnt pickles add another, like, dimension of flavor. The mackerel's cured really well. I just want to really get this jus lié going."
Tristen: "I'm kind of going some different textures of the pickles and then using some fresh cucumber to lighten it back up."
Presenting to Judges
Tristen: "I have a charred mackerel with a half sour celeriac vichyssoise. Underneath is a cucumber and celeriac and pickle jus lié, some pickled dulse, and then there's some burnt pickles as well."
Kristen Kish: "How did you do the burning?"
Tristen: "On a Konro grill."
Kristen Kish: "Tristen, you won with a clean sweep."
Claire Reichenbach (of James Beard Foundation): "Congratulations, Tristen. Nice job. I thought this was so inventive. The mix of textures was so balanced. The full sour was there, but it wasn't overpowering. I thought it was really beautifully integrated in each element."
Tom Colicchio: "Tristan's got these wild ideas and technically pulls it off. For me, it was taking that super humble ingredient. And to execute something like that is unbelievable. This is, like one of the best things I've ever had. "
Gail Simmons: "When the guy doesn't even like pickles!"
Tom Colicchio: "There were two dishes that were probably some of the best dishes I've ever had on the show. Tristan and Cesar, your two dishes were exceptional. Yeah, they're just stunning."
Would you like us to create a recipe to match this dish?
We try to create several recipes every day, and we'd love to prioritize a recipe for you. Just fill out the form and watch your inbox - no cost, no catch.
