Crazy Delicious (2020): Season 1, Episode 2 - Apples, Spaghetti Bolognese and Brunch - full transcript

[chimes tinkling]

[chimes tinkling]

Oh, Giovanni, you're always getting stuff
around your mouth, ain't you?

Is there a bin anywhere?

[suspenseful music playing]

Welcome to our enchanted garden.

A place where creative home cooks
battle it out

to make the most insanely
delicious dishes possible.

Using ingredients from our
magical edible world. Ooh, bark.

They must wow the revered food gods:

chefs Carla Hall,



Heston Blumenthal,

and Niklas Ekstedt.

This time our cooks,

Romy, Tiffany, and Tony,

must make mind-blowing mushrooms,

go all out with grilled cheese,

and take on the takeout.

The most inventive cook will win
the treasured Golden Apple.

I'm Jayde Adams,
and this is Crazy Delicious.

[Jayde] Three imaginative cooks are here
to create spectacular dishes.

I like to make my food quite cutesy
sometimes because I have a child.

Sometimes I like to make cute little,
adorable little characters with food.

[laughs]

I was born in Taiwan



and I moved to California
when I was 12 years old.

When I think of a particular food,

I dream about it. I think about it.

Literally, my soul and my stomach
will not rest till I make it.

Yeah. [laughs]

[mouths] Wow.

My food is influenced
by my parents' heritage,

my mother Italian,
my father's Bangladeshi.

I take both of those countries' cooking

and I try to bring out the best of both
of those worlds when I serve a food.

And it's a fusion, but it's a good fusion.

The kind of food that I like doing is
comfort food.

That is me. You want a hug?
I'll give you a food hug.

I work as a food blogger and photographer,

so day in, day out,
I basically stand in the kitchen

and I photograph food
and I try to make it look nice.

I make a lot of vegan food
because I'm a vegan,

and all of my food is indulgent
comfort food with a healthy twist.

I think what makes my food stand out is
that I love to be very experimental.

If, at the end of the day,
I come off as the crazy vegan,

that's fine with me. [laughs]

[Jayde] The cooks will compete
over three rounds.

First off, they need to make
one key ingredient the star of the dish.

[chimes tinkling]

-[drum roll]
-[harp plays]

-Hello.
-Hello!

Welcome to my enchanted garden.

For their first course,

the gods have chosen a single ingredient,

and they would like you to transform it
into something spectacular.

It's the mushroom.

And they're growing all around you.

So, go forth and forage.

[Jayde] The garden is full
of fabulous fungi...

[Romy] Got any small mushrooms here?

[Jayde] ...and any other ingredient
the cooks might need.

Whoa!

Like honey and stuff?

Awesome!

[Jayde] But the goal now is to make
their mushrooms a thing of beauty.

Mushrooms can have this wonderful
meaty characteristic to them.

They can also be very perfumed.

To dismiss them is actually to ignore one
of the great ingredients on the planet.

There's so many down here.

You can grill them. You can roast them.
You can pan-fry them.

You know, I'm a pretty fun guy, Romy.
You know that, don't you?

Yeah, I think we all do.

When you find a mushroom in the woods,
and you pick it up, you do not know

-if it's going to kill you or not.
-Yes.

I lived in France, and in France,

you can take your mushrooms
to the pharmacy

to see if they're edible or not.

-How do you do yours?
-Braised, slowly.

Slow temperature, no high heat.
Never high heat on mushrooms!

There's a lot of noes with the mushrooms,
folks. There are a lot of noes.

Don't mess with my mushrooms!

You now have two hours
to turn the modest mushroom

into an inventive dish
that's utterly scrumptious.

Your time starts... now!

[dramatic music playing]

[Jayde] The cook who makes the most
of the mushroom will get

an extra ten minutes
for their next course.

I actually absolutely hate mushrooms

and I was trying to find ways

to make mushrooms taste fantastic
to me and to my family,

and Japanese curry is one of those things
that we always have at home.

It will be served
with little onigiri rice balls

in the shape of little monkey balls.

Monkey heads, not monkey balls!

[Jayde] Tiffany's monkey-faced rice balls

will sit on top
of her aromatic mushroom curry,

a Japanese blend of warm spices,

orange zest and fresh apple.

[in singsong] It's gonna taste amazing!

[dramatic music playing]

-Hello, Tiffany. How are you?
-Hi! Oh, my gosh, it's you!

-I'm good. How are you?
-I'm good, thank you.

Standing here, I adore
the smell of mushrooms.

Yeah, it's killing me.
I hate mushrooms with a passion.

-Why don't you like them?
-I was traumatized as a child.

-[Jayde] How?
-I lived with different relatives.

One of the relatives I lived with,

she used to cook mushrooms
with... everything!

For breakfast, for lunch, for dinner.
Every meal had mushrooms in it.

They are...

beautiful.

Oh! How can you not like that?

They're so weird! [laughs]

Are you confident that you're gonna make
the mushroom the star of the show,

not liking mushrooms?

I know it sounds bizarre

that I'm trying to make a mushroom curry
to not taste like mushrooms,

-but...
-Okay.

the texture of it, you'll definitely know,
"Okay, I'm eating mushrooms."

Maybe you're gonna change your own mind.

To be honest, I really do love this curry
and I did eat it myself, as well.

[Jayde] Also hoping to make magic
with mushrooms is Tony.

My dish is called Papa's Fried Chicken,

but it's actually not chicken,
it's mushrooms.

[Jayde] He's making mushroom arancini
shaped like chicken drumsticks,

along with mushroom fries
and mushroom ketchup.

Are you Papa?

I'm Papa, yes!

My children call me Papa.
My granddaughter calls me Papa.

[sensually] Can I call you Papa?

Uh... You may call me Tony.

[Tony and Heston laugh]

-Wow, Tony. Way to shoot a girl down.
-[Heston] I think you scared him.

[laughs]

[Heston] What have you got in here?

-Fried crispy chicken skin, so that's...
-Oh, lovely.

Oh, nice!

Give them the hint of chicken.
You'll smell chicken,

bite it and think, hold on.
That's going into the breadcrumb.

[Heston] That's...
That is delicious, that is.

That's gonna be the tomato,
I'm gonna call it "catsup."

You can call it "ketchup."

-I can call it "catsup."
-What's catsup?

The original ketchup was called catsup,
and it was mushroom.

Tomatoes were probably one of the last...
About the last thing

to be turned into a ketchup,
or what was called catsup.

-Really?
-Correct. [laughs]

-All right, Tony, I'll let you crack on.
-Thank you.

You're not upset you can't call me Papa?

No, you've made up for it
with the chicken skin.

Thank you. [laughs]

[Jayde] German-born Romy is paying
a nostalgic nod to her childhood

with her mushroom dish.

My mum used to make
a cream of mushroom soup quite regularly,

and it was one of my favorite things
to eat because I'm a big fan of mushrooms.

So, I kind of knew I'm going to have to do
something around cream of mushroom.

[Jayde] Romy's pâtisserie slices will be
filled with cashew and mushroom creams,

and topped with a kick
of hot wasabi sauce.

[Romy] So, my creamy layer
will basically be cashew-based.

Normally, you would soak them
for 4 to 6 hours, but we don't have time.

I'm just cooking them. This is like
a quick kitchen hack to get them soft.

-[drum roll]
-[harp plays]

Hello, Romy.

-Hi, there!
-[Heston] What are you doing?

I'm making a cream of mushroom slice.

It will be kind of like
a vegan pâtisserie,

but it will have all of the elements
of a cream of mushroom soup in it.

So, it will kind of be like a dessert,
but with mushroom instead.

-It's the meat of the vegans.
-Exactly.

[Heston] Concerned about anything?

What I'm most concerned about
is everything setting in time

because I'm not using gelatin, obviously,
I'm using Vegesets,

which is carrageenan, basically.

And you're serving it cold?

-Yeah.
-Yep. I'll let you get on.

-Thank you so much.
-Good luck.

Carrageenan is a seaweed gelling agent,

which is used in vegetarian
and vegan dishes.

The downside to it is that

it has a very different set to gelatin.

So, I'm a bit concerned about the texture.

Is it going to be heavy and gloopy?

Tiffany, the question
that's going through my head is...

because she doesn't like mushrooms,

for her to think it's nice, it means
the mushroom flavor has to be suppressed.

If the mushroom flavor is suppressed,

then the mushroom does not become
the star of the show.

A handful of that, bang! In. Mix it about.

So, Tony, his fried chicken.

The idea is quite interesting, but...

[chuckles]

Tony does seem like a force of nature,
which means he's potentially

a law unto himself.

One hour. One hour to go.

We're in an enchanted garden.
We're gonna wake up from this dream,

saying, "What? Did that really happen?
What is going on?"

[Jayde] It's halfway through,
and all three cooks

are maxing their mushrooms.

I've got three different types
of mushrooms in here.

I've got my cooked chestnut mushrooms,

I've got my mushroom paste,
and I've got my porcini mushroom powder.

The cream layer, I'm worried about.

This is the one that needs to set
before the time is up, so...

this is what we're praying for today.

[Tony] I'm so confident
the mushrooms I've chosen

are gonna be the star of this dish

because these ones,
for your chips, fantastic.

The oyster mushrooms there, fantastic.

White mushrooms in the puree sauce
I'm gonna make, fantastic.

I can't go wrong.

You wait and see,
the gods will just love this.

Do you know what?
I'm gonna have to forage some more.

[Jayde] And even Tiffany is dialing up
the mushroom flavors

in her Japanese curry.

Even the paste itself
has dried shiitake mushrooms,

and then I'm just going to use
some fresh mushrooms

to go into the curry.

[Jayde] She uses fruits from the garden
for extra tang.

[Tiffany]
I've also added some grated apple

and a dash of honey.

I love Japanese-style curry
because it's comforting.

It's proper home food.

It's quite mild. It's good for kids
because it has a hint of sweetness to it.

I'm working on the pastry now.
I'm gonna be using beer.

Maybe not quite the usual way
to make pastry,

but I just love the nice hoppy flavor.

Roll it out
and get it into the right shape.

[Jayde] For his mushroom ketchup,
Tony uses tomatoes

with sautéed mushrooms and smoked paprika.

[Tony] 'Cause I'm part Italian,

my ancestors tell me a pinch of this
and a bit of that, and a bit of this,

and it all goes according to plan,
hopefully.

[Jayde] With her pastry ready,

Romy can start building
her mushroom cream layers.

Okay.

Fingers crossed it will set in time.

Forget mushroom,
you ain't got "mush-time."

[laughs]

[Jayde] It's 30 minutes to go!

[Jayde] With time ticking,
Tony's onto his mushroom fries.

[Tony]
You're gonna get a texture of crispiness

and sort of wobbliness,
if that makes sense.

[Jayde] While Tiffany needs to mold
her monkeys.

I'm tinting the rice with some soy sauce

so I can make my little monkey heads.

[Jayde] And Romy starts
her wasabi horseradish sauce.

Well, wasabi is quite a strong flavor,
so I kind of need to get the balance right

between the mushroom flavor
and the wasabi.

Hold on. I've gotta get these chips out
'cause they're gonna burn.

I thought I'd put it
on the lowest heat possible.

So, I'm just doing some more
in the fryer as backup.

[Jayde] Tony molds his mushroom rice
around chicken bones

to create his drumstick arancini.

-Does it look like a chicken leg?
-It looks like a chicken leg.

I'm literally so excited.

[Jayde] For Romy, it's the moment of truth
to see if her mushroom slices have set.

-Romy...
-That's turned out.

I feel that we're at quite
a critical moment of your dish.

And I'm very glad that you're stopping by
at this moment. [laughs]

[exhales deeply]

One's off.

[Jayde] Yes! They look great!

[Jayde] Five minutes!

[Jayde] Shiitake!

Can we get away with that?

I'd normally try and measure this,
but I've got no time for that,

so I'm just going to eye it
and hope for the best.

[dramatic music playing]

[Tony] I'm gonna cheat. I'm gonna put
some of the oven chips down at the bottom

and then cover it with the fried chips.

My wasabi cream has not set at all.

[Jayde] Time's up!

Move away from your mushrooms.

No more tinkering.

It's time for tasting.

[laughs]

I'd stay down here if I were you

'cause Heston will try and turn you
into an ice cream if you got up there.

[Jayde] The gods will now decide
which cook has created

the most magical mushroom dish.

[Tiffany] Stay happy.

[Jayde] First up is Tiffany.

Her Japanese curry pairs mushrooms
with warm spices,

orange zest and fresh apple,

and is served
with monkey-faced rice balls.

Look at that.

[Carla] Wow!

[group] Wow!

It looks fantastic.

It's very unique.

[suspenseful music playing]

The mushrooms soak up the curry
really well, and they are delicious.

I love the spices.

I think the flavors are more complex
than I expected.

What I don't like is the rice.

For me, it's not great.

-Okay.
-Because you have to overcook it a lot

-to be able to shape it into a monkey.
-You're right.

The fact you've kept some texture
in the mushrooms, I think saves this dish.

-Thank you very much.
-[Tiffany] Thanks!

[Tiffany] For the next course,

I'm a little bit worried now
because I'm also using rice.

[Jayde] Next is Tony with his mushroom
arancini shaped like chicken drumsticks

with mushroom chips and mushroom ketchup.

Wow!

I mean, I can't wait to bite into this.

[suspenseful music playing]

There's no salt. You don't use salt? No?

Because I use pecorino cheese
and Parmesan cheese,

I believe that's enough salt.

There's a couple of mushrooms, for me,
that aren't cooked enough.

[Niklas] Mushroom fries.

It's very chewy.

I don't think you anticipated
how long it took to cook these.

The mushroom fries are really not good.

-I like the ketchup.
-Yeah.

For me, this is the star of the show.

-[Carla] Yeah.
-[Heston] I love the smokiness.

You don't expect it to taste
as much of mushroom as it does.

-Great sauce.
-Tony, thank you.

-Thank you.
-Well done.

[Tony] The gods' comments
haven't deflated me one iota.

I'm still in a good position
and I'm happy.

[Jayde] Last up is Romy,

with her cream of mushroom pâtisserie,

with layers of vegan pastry
and cashew creams,

topped with mushrooms and wasabi sauce.

[Carla] Yeah!

[Niklas] Never seen anything like this.

[laughs]

They're very big.

They are. German people are very hungry.

[Heston and Romy laugh]

[suspenseful music playing]

This cashew cream...

I like that.

Thank you.

However, I think the mushroom part of it

is flat and gummy,

and I think that's one of the problems
you face with using carrageenan.

Mm-hmm.

But you could have got over that
by putting some acidity

and maybe add some more salt,
but the wasabi definitely helps.

I love vegan food, but you have to work
so much harder to bring the flavors.

[Niklas] The textures are
also very similar.

This is very difficult to eat.

If this would have been on a spoon
and you would have one...

we would get all the flavor.

-Right.
-Romy, thank you.

[Romy] I already knew, like,
okay, it's not perfect,

but I was very happy
that Heston liked a part of my dish.

It's like,
"Okay, yeah, I'll take that step."

[Jayde] One round down,
but with two to go,

the gods must decide which cook deserves

crucial extra cooking time
for their next course.

We wanted to see dishes

that show mushrooms at their best...

-[Niklas] Yeah.
-...and none of them did that.

[Heston] Tony's sauce was delicious.
However, that was a garnish.

And Tiffany's curry, her mushrooms
stood out more than the other two.

But it wasn't a great dish either.

[Heston] I actually also thought
that the concept of a mushroom slice,

that could be a wonderful dish.

But... the taste...

-No.
-No.

[dramatic music playing]

We loved the ambition that you all had
for your dishes.

However, all three of us felt

that none of you showcased
the mushroom at its best.

For that reason, it doesn't feel right
to give any of you the extra ten minutes.

Harsh.

Don't worry.
You've all got another chance.

For their second course,
the gods would like you to reinvent

the grilled cheese sandwich.

You have to pull out all the stops

because whoever makes
the least delicious dish

will be sent home by the gods.

Go forth and forage.

[whispers] Drama!

[Jayde] In this round, the cooks must take
a classic grilled cheese

and reinvent it
to create a brand-new dish.

Melted cheese and bread.

There's nothing better.

No, you can't go far wrong with that.

-Did you see the cheese?
-Oh, wow.

-[Romy] Growing in a tree.
-[Tiffany] I know!

[Niklas]
We used to do like a croque monsieur

-with ham and cheese after school.
-[Heston] Yeah.

But in the machine, in the toaster.

One red one. Let's see this green one.

[Heston] If you can get it to the right...

texture so when you bite,

you've got this crunch on the bread,
and then

-you pull the sandwich away.
-I'll take it.

-And you pull it. Here, you pull it too.
-And you can see the cheese is stretching.

-[Carla] Yes!
-I'm going over here.

[laughs]

You have 90 minutes to turn an ordinary
grilled cheese sandwich

into an extraordinary one.

Your time starts now.

[dramatic music playing]

[Jayde] The pressure is on,
as only two of the cooks

will make it through to the final course.

It would have been great
to have that extra ten minutes.

I think this is all about survival now.

We have to impress them
'cause one of us is going home.

[Tiffany]
I love grilled cheese sandwiches.

I mean, like, the original,
just with bread,

but I also want to do something different,

and I knew of musubi sandwich
and I thought,

"What if I stuffed some cheese
in the middle?"

[Jayde] Tiffany's spin on
Hawaiian snack musubi

is a rice sandwich fried in bread crumbs

and stuffed with cheese and Spam,

served the classic way
with tomato soup on the side.

-How are my angels down here?
-[giggles] Oh, we're great.

-[Niklas] Tiffany! How are you?
-Hi!

So, tell me about your cheese dish.

Musubi is a Hawaiian-styled

Spam-rice sandwich wrapped in seaweed.

-Oh, nice.
-Normally, it's like street food,

and you eat it on the go.

And it's going to be dipped in flour,
egg wash, and panko, and deep-fried.

-Wow!
-I'm serving it with a roast tomato soup.

Like, Spam is probably
one of those things

I wouldn't eat if I didn't really have to.

-[laughs]
-[Tiffany] Yes. Yeah.

It's gonna be very exciting to see
if you're gonna change my mind about Spam.

Oh, gosh.

Oh! I hope so much it's good!

Me, too!

The name of my dish is
a paratha pancake stack.

It's a combination of my Asian heritage

and my English culture of pancakes.

Hopefully, this time,
the food gods will be...

[Jayde] For his reinvention, Tony's doing
a mash-up of Indian paratha flatbreads

and traditional pancakes
to create a spicy stack,

topped with chili cheese sauce
and chutney syrup.

I'm making the batter
for the shallots pancakes.

Whoopsie.

I don't think you can over-mix a batter.

Or maybe you can.
You see, I'm not a professional.

-How are you?
-Ah, food god Niklas.

Yes!

I'm great, thank you.

-So, why did you choose this?
-I love cheese on toast, anyway.

When I was passing a doner kebab shop,
I saw the meat's up there, I thought,

if I could do a stack of pancakes
or parathas, then slice it off,

and have it with cheese, bit of chutney,
I thought, comfort food.

What kind of cheese are you using?

-I'm using cheddar.
-Cheddar!

I'm serving it with my version
of a maple syrup.

It's not really maple syrup. It's figs.

So, you're gonna stack the pancakes
on top of each other,

-and the cheese is in between.
-In between.

It's looking good.

-Thank you.
-Don't forget to taste everything.

Okay.

Everybody who can see my Instagram
and what I normally have for breakfast,

smoothie bowls are
quite high up there on the list,

so smoothie bowls would normally be
a sweet element,

but I'm gonna make a savory one today
full of vegan cheese.

[Jayde] Romy is making
a vegan cheese smoothie bowl,

a warm gooey cheese dip
served with apple crackers,

and decorated with colorful toppings
like raspberry chutney,

avocado roses and cucumber petals.

So, what's the secret
to a good vegan cheese?

-I think it needs to be, firstly, creamy.
-Yeah.

It needs to have a particular kind
of saltiness to it,

to come across like actual cheese,

and also it needs to have,

like, a stringy texture
so that it actually...

-gets more gooey...
-[Niklas] Gluey.

...so I think this is quite important
to get that in.

So, 90 minutes,

-it's not a long time to make cheese.
-It's not.

[sighs] I wanna tidy up here a little bit.

I'm very sorry.
I'm not normally this messy.

Spam is one of those pantry staples
that you always have.

Honestly, when you grill it,
it tastes amazing!

[Niklas]
I haven't had Spam that many times,

but it doesn't look delicious,
so let's see if she does it great.

Tony is making a paratha
with a lot of cheese.

Pancakes and cheese, as long as it tastes,

you know, put a little bit of salt
in there, what can go wrong?

I could have made you a normal
cheese toastie within an hour and a half,

but... it's gotta be crazy, so...

[Niklas] Romy is doing vegan cheese

that she's making herself.

It's going to be interesting to see,
"Will it be stringy? Will it be gluey?"

How will that work out?

Halfway through, everyone!
We're halfway through.

In the meantime,
we need to get you some trousers, babe.

[softly] Move up!

[clicks tongue]

[Jayde] All three cooks are focusing
on their own unique take

on the toast in a grilled cheese.

[Tony] I'm slightly concerned
that my pancakes that I've already made

are not completely light and fluffy,
but if the flavors hit,

and it gives them
a little taste sensation, then I'm happy.

[Jayde] While Tony's using pancakes,

Romy's making flaxseed crackers
with a fruity twist.

[Romy] So, I'm making them apple-flavored.

If the moisture was still in the mix,
they wouldn't be crackers,

they would just be soft crackers.

So, these crackers are going to provide
a nice crunch

in comparison
to my very smooth cheesy sauce.

[Jayde] And Tiffany's ditching the bread
in favor of rice and pickles.

I am chopping up some tsukemonos.

Tsukemonos are Japanese pickles.

So we've got radish. We've got cucumber.

They're always nice and colorful,
which really makes the white rice pop.

Plus, they give it
a little bit of crunchiness.

I'm gonna mold these now.

Kinda like you're making sushi.

[Jayde] With time ticking,
the cooks get to work on their cheese.

I'm using cheddar cheese.

I'm probably gonna upset
the Asian part of the family, thinking,

"You should be using paneer."
But paneer doesn't go with this one.

It's too rubbery.

I think they really want it
to be uber-cheesy.

So...

let's cheese it up.

The potatoes are part of my cheese sauce,

which will make it nice and smooth
and creamy,

and also hold the sauce together

and make it nice and stringy
at the same time.

You okay?

-[Tiffany] Romy?
-Yeah.

[Jayde] For her vegan cheese,
Romy cooks potatoes and carrots,

and then adds coconut milk
and cashew butter.

Fifteen minutes to go.

Fifteen minutes?

Right.

[Jayde] All three cooks are making sides,
with Tony and Romy doing chutneys...

Ah!

Onion fumes. [laughs]

...and Tiffany going
for a roasted tomato soup.

Yeah! All right.

[Tiffany] Definitely nervous.

It's very important
that the smoothie bowl looks delicious.

[Tony] That looks like
the right consistency.

Gloopy.

Fingers crossed
that my crackers are actually done.

They're not crispy.

I'm gonna leave them in there
for another two minutes.

[laughing] There's a lot going on
in this one tiny, little roll.

[in German] One minute!

That's German, but she's not looking.

[dramatic music playing]

Definitely needs more seasoning.

Time's up!

No more tinkering. It's time for tasting.

-[exhales sharply]
-Whatever will brie, will brie.

[group laughs]

Was that too cheesy?
Again, I'm really sorry. I can't help it.

-[drum roll]
-[harp plays]

[Jayde] Tiffany, Romy, and Tony

are about to present their reinventions
of a grilled cheese.

After judging, one of them
will be sent home.

Tiffany is serving
her crispy rice musubi sandwiches

filled with cheese and Spam

alongside a roast tomato soup.

Whoa!

[suspenseful music playing]

The rice is better this time
than last time.

Is it the same type of rice?

Yeah, yeah.

Just cooked better?

The crumb's nice.
It's got a nice crispiness to it,

and the Spam, kind of, really works!

If Spam comes in more dishes like this,
I'll probably start liking it.

The soup is perfectly seasoned,
the weight of it...

I love it.

Now, I have to say, the cheese has
a lot of friends in this sandwich.

I just don't know
if there's enough cheese.

Thank you, Tiffany.

Phew. [laughs]

[Tony clapping] Yeah! Smiling!

-It's done, it's done. It's done!
-[Romy] You look so much more relaxed now.

Phew.

[Jayde] Next up is Tony.

His Indian-inspired paratha pancake stack

is smothered
in a spicy cheddar cheese sauce,

and served with fig chutney.

-[Carla] Oh, wow!
-[Heston] That is some cheesy tower, Tony.

[suspenseful music playing]

Mmm.

Mmm. Not bad.

It's tasty.
I like the level of chili in it.

The little crunch of the spring onion
makes a big difference.

The pancakes are very set, right.
They're dense.

They're not that fluffy.

The cheese part is almost better
than a grilled cheese

because you have so much flavor in it.

Well done, Tony.
I mean, I think this tastes great.

You've definitely picked your game up.

-Yeah.
-Thank you very much.

[Niklas] Anything tastes good
with melted cheddar on.

[Heston] You say that...

I had a big argument with my missus
last night.

Really?

She threw a lump of cheddar cheese at me.

-[laughs]
-I said, "That was mature."

No! [laughs]

I'm smiling. [laughs]

[Romy] Don't drop it. Don't drop it.

[Jayde] Romy has made
a vegan cheese smoothie bowl,

topped with raspberry chutney,
avocado and fruit,

and served with apple crackers.

Oh!

[Heston] Oh, wow.

I think it looks really colorful,

and I know on social media
these smoothie bowls are really popular,

and so to turn it on its head

and do something savory,
it does fit the brief...

-I was hoping for.
-...of reimagining grilled cheese.

[suspenseful music playing]

So, the stringiness from the cheese,

the texture is from the potato, right?

Yeah.

That works really well.

-A vegan cheese in 90 minutes...
-[Heston] Yeah.

...that's not easy.

Right now, it feels more like
a vegetable puree to me.

It just needed a little more flavor
to make it feel pungent.

-Well, the apple comes through nicely.
-[Niklas] Yeah.

You get the apple. You get the crispiness.

I would do this recipe any day.

These are great, but the cheese...

is not the thing that stands out
on this dish.

Thank you very much.

[Tony claps] Yay!

I'm really nervous for the announcement.
I've done all I can,

so it's completely down to them now
and all I can do is hope for the best.

Fingers crossed.

They really raised their bars.

They all picked up.

I liked Tony's idea of using a pancake
instead of a bread.

I think they were a little too dense,
but the cheese was really delicious.

[Niklas] So, Tiffany...

-Visually, it was stunning.
-I love the simplicity of it.

My only thing about it...

was, was there enough cheese for it to be

-a grilled cheese reinvented?
-[Niklas] Yeah.

[Carla] Romy, I think,
she had the biggest potential

to reinvent the grilled cheese

-because she had to make her cheese.
-Yeah.

It looked colorful and vibrant,

but it was closer to a vegetable puree.

[Niklas] Two of these cooks...

we're gonna ask to cook a third course.

The question is, which two?

[Jayde] Here he comes.

[suspenseful music playing]

You've made
some incredible food today, guys,

but only two of you will go through
and cook for the gods again.

Heston, who's it going to be?

After a somewhat tricky start,

all three of you upped your game.

However...

there were two people's dishes
that were the most delicious.

And they are Tiffany...

and Tony.

[Romy] I'm sad to be leaving,
not to be cooking again,

but at the end of the day,

it's really inspired me to go back
into the kitchen and keep creating.

-Well done.
-Thank you.

-Thank you so much.
-Thank you.

[chuckles]

Bye-bye, guys.

Well done.

To get through, I didn't imagine it,
but it's happened.

And it's just fantastic. I'm fully,
100% confident for the final course.

Phew.

-[Jayde] Eh?
-[Tiffany] I am utterly surprised

that I made it to the final. [chuckles]

But now that I've done it,
I really want to win.

Oh, my gosh, I really want to win.
[laughs]

[Jayde] For the final course,
the cooks must create

an epic feast to delight the gods,

in one last bid to take home
the Golden Apple.

The gods' final wish is that you two

make the world's
most crazy delicious... takeout.

Go forth and forage.

Ooh, ginger.

What do you want in a takeout?

It's a decadent feast
that you always order too much.

Yes! I love the boxes.

-It's like opening presents, little gifts.
-[Carla] Yes!

Ooh, that's hot.

[Carla] Growing up, it was fried chicken.

You would get the bucket and...
Right! See?

That was something that completely was
new to me in the US, bucket!

-[Carla] Yes!
-Food in a bucket!

I remember I called my mom,

-"They serve food in buckets!"
-[Carla laughs]

The Golden Apple will be given
to the cook who creates

the most mind-blowing takeout.

You've got four hours
and your time starts... now.

[dramatic music playing]

I was sent to live in America
when I was 12,

and the only connection I have
to Taiwan nowadays is food.

I really want to make something
that kind of represents both sides 

of my childhood.

[Jayde] Tiffany's serving up
American classics with a Taiwanese twist:

five-spice chicken wings,

corn dogs, sweet potato fries,

and, for dessert,
sweet peanut butter and jelly rice balls.

[Tiffany] You can't fry too early.

I'm going to be very busy
in the last 45 minutes or so.

-Miss Tiffany.
-Hello.

-So, what are you doing now?
-I'm making a pig's blood cake.

-A pig's blood cake?
-[Tiffany] Yes, using...

-Is that the pig's blood?
-That is pig's blood.

So, the blood cake will be dipped
in corn batter.

I'll turn that into corn dogs.

Obviously, the corn batter is American,
the blood cake is Taiwanese.

You're speaking from cultural connections
in both places.

Yeah. I think I just wanted to...

I think, finally, in my adult life,
I wanted to embrace both cultures,

instead of being really confused
about either one.

-Yes!
-Yeah.

I think as long as you
taste and season,

-it's about being balanced.
-Yes.

[Jayde] For his takeout feast,

Tony is also drawing on flavors
he grew up with.

[Tony] I'm so happy that I've made it
to the third course,

so I can present to the food gods

the food that I believe is
what I'm really, really, really good at.

[Jayde] Tony's fruit basket takeout is
a tropical reinvention of classic curries.

He's serving
an oxtail bhuna masala with pineapple,

and a chicken tikka masala
with watermelon,

along with coconut rice
and a mango chutney.

[Carla] Tony, Tony!

So, wow! Are these the oxtails?

-Oxtail and shin of beef.
-Okay.

Now, it takes a while to make oxtails.

-Sometimes put them in a pressure cooker.
-I've got the backup plan.

-You want them to fall off the bone?
-Exactly.

-Yes.
-[Carla] Okay.

It's gonna turn into a meat masala,

with Scotch bonnet chilies and pineapples.

May I taste it?

[Tony] You've got the heat.
The sweet's gonna take time to kick in.

[coughs]

When you eat it,
it won't be like that. Trust me.

I need something right now.
This the pineapple?

Whoo!

Dude.

So, the sweet hasn't come out yet,
but it will.

Okay.

[quietly] Tony, get it in there.

[Tony] Hmm.

My concern with Tony,

he's using Scotch bonnets and pineapple.

Phew. It blew my head off.

But I love that he was doing oxtails.

I love oxtails.

But you have to know how to cook it.

What Tiffany is doing,

she is taking her Taiwanese culture

and combining it
with the American cuisine.

And I think it's very emotional
for her, too.

She's going to be giving us something new,

and it could be very successful,
or it could be like, "This doesn't work."

You have two hours to go.

-Two hours?
-[Jayde] Two hours, Tony.

Okay, thank you.

Yes, Tony!
You're getting it in the cooker, mate.

Exactly. If advice is given,
why not take it?

So, the secret to my fried chicken...

is a five-spice flour sludge.

[Jayde] To make them extra crispy,

Tiffany then gives the chicken wings
a second coating of flour.

I am confident with my fried chicken.

If they don't like it,
I will take the whole bucket home

and eat it myself in shame...

but really, really enjoy it. [laughs]

[Tony] I'm about to start
on my chicken tikka masala.

This one will not turn hot at all.
There's no chili in there.

See, it's the sweet one.

[Jayde] To his marinated chicken
and curry base,

he adds the juice of a watermelon.

[Tony] Fruit's a natural sweetener.

Just choose the right fruit to go with
the right meat, and you can't go wrong.

I am wrapping the peanut butter
into the mochi balls.

Mochi is a...

sticky rice dessert,

made with glutinous flour.

Mochi is, like,
one of my favorite childhood snacks.

Oh, that's got some kick to it.

At the moment, it's...

a killer.

[laughs]

One pineapple, I thought would be enough,
has not worked.

I think two pineapples is going
to cut the heat down.

I've got to pull out all the stops.

I am making the plum powder

to go with the golden sweet potato fries.

These are just... They're sour plums.

Winning the Golden Apple would mean to me

bragging rights to my mom
and my daughter. [laughs]

Like, "Look! Mommy did it!

I can cook."

You're obviously passionate
about your cooking.

-[Tony] Oh, yes.
-Is there anything else that you do?

-Looks like it's time to do the splits.
-[Jayde laughs]

-I wanted this so much!
-Here we go.

-Time to do the splits.
-Holy moly.

[laughing] Oh, my gosh!

You've got some concentrating to do,
I'm gonna split.

[Tony and Jayde laugh]

You've got 30 minutes left.

Thirty minutes, thank you.

I need to up my game a bit more,

so I'm gonna put that to there,
get the rice pot going.

So, put that to there,
put that one on.

[Jayde] While Tiffany starts deep-frying
her takeout,

Tony works on his rice.

I'm gonna fry the rice
with the ghee and the onions

and then add the coconut milk.

[Jayde] For added crunch,

Tiffany uses a special mixture
on her sweet potato fries.

I've got sweet potato flour.

-Yep.
-Custard flour.

You are blowing my mind.

[Jayde] That smells
utterly delicious, babe.

That's how it should be. It's not sticky.

It's not mush.

Ten minutes! You have ten minutes to go.

We have ten minutes left?

I'm definitely gonna have to utilize
every second I get.

Come on, come on. You can do this.
You've got ten minutes.

[dramatic music playing]

By Jove, I think it's worked.

Oh, God.

I'm gonna do this.

I'm injecting some strawberry jam.

It will be done.

One minute!

[Jayde] Time's up, everyone.

[Jayde] Woohoo!

Yes! Let's all hug, come on.

Well done, guys.
You got through it. Well done.

-[drum roll]
-[harp plays]

-Phew.
-Phew.

[Jayde] The gods must now decide
which cook

has created the most tantalizing takeout

worthy of winning the Golden Apple.

-Hi, gods.
-Hello, you.

[Jayde] Tony's tropical takeout reimagines
classic Indian curries with a fruity spin.

He's serving pineapple and oxtail bhuna,

watermelon chicken tikka masala,
and coconut rice.

-Oh.
-Oh.

Tony.

[Carla] Okay, so this is the...

-Chicken tikka masala with watermelon.
-[Carla] All right.

[Niklas] Wow.

-[Niklas] Looks nice.
-It looks so colorful

and inviting, and it looks like a party.

[suspenseful music playing]

-The chicken is perfect.
-Really good.

-Yeah.
-The chicken's cooked perfectly.

I think this tastes delicious.
I'd like just a little bit more sourness.

I think it's the melon that's sweet,
so maybe put more lemon in.

Or a bit of tamarind,

or just something that gives it
a bit of a sour kick.

-[Niklas] Pineapple oxtail.
-[Tony] I'd say hot, not extremely hot.

I've got the kick. I'm just waiting

to see if it's gonna start to... rise.

I was concerned
that it was going to be too spicy.

-It's spicy, but it's not too spicy.
-I don't think it's too spicy.

The rice is delicious.

Usually coconut rice, I find,
it gets heavy and dense.

-This one is light, fluffy... Yeah. Great.
-Good.

If somebody came... to my house,

and this... was the meal,

I would be really, really happy.

-Thank you.
-[Carla] Well done.

-Wow.
-Thank you.

Well done.

Smashed it.

[Jayde] For her takeout feast,

Tiffany fuses Taiwanese
and American classics,

with spicy fried chicken wings, corn dogs,

sweet potato fries, pickles,

and a dessert
of peanut butter and jelly mochi balls.

It looks like an indulgent takeout.

-Fried chicken?
-Fried chicken. Dive in.

[suspenseful music playing]

It's cooked perfectly.

It's tender. You're getting
all of those seasonings.

The salt levels are great.

And this is a woman from Nashville.

-I know! Honestly...
-Don't forget!

I mean, it's really good.

[Niklas] Let's try the fries.

-What's the coating?
-Sweet potato flour and custard flour.

Yeah, 'cause there's crystallized sugar
on the outside.

A little bit, yeah.

But it doesn't seem weird

because you've got the sweetness
from the potato, anyway.

Listen to that.

[crackling]

So crispy, right?

I might curl up and cry a little bit.

Oh, babe!

[Niklas] This the dessert?

-Oh, it's peanut butter and jam.
-[Tiffany] Yes. [laughs]

I love...

that texture.

[Tiffany] The mochi.

It's elastic, but it's got a bite to it.

I love it.

-Ready for a corn dog?
-Your favorite.

Blood pudding cake corn dog.

[laughs]

[Heston] This is great.

I love the balance of the saucing,

the fresh herbs.

It is so perfectly authentic.

And I think that the corn dog part
is really great.

For me, I'm missing...

the taste of the blood pudding because
the corn overpowers it a little bit,

-but it's delicious.
-[Niklas] Yeah.

I hope you're crying out of happiness,
'cause you should be.

-Thank you.
-Well done.

-Thank you.
-Tiffany, well done.

Whoa!

[Tiffany] I don't know
if I did enough to win.

Whatever happens, happens,
you know, que será, será.

And I'm really proud of myself
that I did this.

I'm gonna cry again. God! [laughs]

[sniffles]

I personally think
I've impressed the gods enough to win.

That Golden Apple is just over there,
and it's so close,

and I've really wanted it all day.

Two very different takeaways.

They both really knocked it
out of the park.

They made food that you'd actually
genuinely want to have as a takeaway.

-Yes.
-Well, let's talk about Tiffany's.

[Heston]
I certainly have never come across

a Taiwanese-American style infusion

-in cooking.
-No, and it's so smart.

-Tony?
-I was...

blown away by the presentation.

[Niklas] You're eating that chicken,
but from the watermelon.

You're looking at the watermelon,
tasting watermelon, which is good.

-Yes.
-I think it was so close.

[Carla] I think at the end of the day,
we have to look at the person who...

used their skills
as well as their creativity

-to give us an incredible feast.
-Yep.

Well done, both of you.

-Fist bump.
-[imitates explosion]

[thunder and lightning crackling]

I'm so sorry, guys.

They do like a bit of an entrance.

Well done to both of you.

It was a tough decision, but the person

taking home the Golden Apple is...

Tiffany.

[sniffles, whimpers]

Are you okay?

This is amazing! Oh, my God!

Oh! Phew!

[Tony]
When you get compliments from food gods,

it doesn't happen every other day,
does it?

So, of course I'm happy about that.

Tiffany showed flair,
she showed creativity,

she made delicious food,

and she wove her two cultures together

in a really beautiful way.

[dramatic music playing]