Top Chef ™
Baker:
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Monkfish with Baccala Mbongo
Tristen: "For my first course, I'm not entirely sure if I want to go with monkfish or cod, so I'm going to treat them the same exact way. So I've marinated both types of fish, and now I am just rolling it to hold the shape."
Tristen (minutes away from presenting this dish): "The monkfish looks good. Cod came out really well as well. I'm still trying to decide the pros and cons of each fish. Both of them have slightly different textures. Monkfish is an easier fish to overcook, but cod has less texture. At six minutes, we're going to fire fish. There's not a lot of time left, but I'm going to keep forging ahead until I can make the right decision."
Tristen (finally deciding) "I'm going to go with the monkfish. I like the texture of it a little more. Has more of a lobster texture, (Calling to Zubair) "... sauce directly on the fish, please"
Presenting to Judges
"I always looked at my own cuisine as something that wasn't really revered in value at tables like this. What we have here is monkfish, turmeric turnips that have been pickled. The black sauce is a baccala mbongo, something I grew up with."
Judge: "Tristen, how did you cook the fish?"
Tristen: "It was steamed in a little bit of epis butter."
Judges
"Tristan's dish, it's very simple, but very, very perfect."
"I think my fish was a bit under."
"Yeah, the fish looked undercooked, but when I ate it, it didn't eat undercooked. It was, like, right on the border."
"Tristan and I are wanting to elevate certain cultures of food in a fine dining space, and he did really great. I get it all."
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