Post by TheBo on Nov 16, 2010 14:35:20 GMT -5
I've only gotten 34 minutes into this, and it seems like this is the end, so I don't know what the heck else could possibly happen. (And I've already seen the whole thing before! LOL.)
So, here's what I've got so far. I was going to try to finish watching for lunch, but I've got a migraine. I want to go away from my desk. -Bo
11/11/10 (final episode) FIRST HALF
Grand Chef recap Ep24
Recap in a recap. We see the events leading up to Bong-joo’s grand entrance. He snarls at Min-woo, who apologizes as he is defended by Sung-chan. B-J accepts M-W and sends away the assistant who had been taking B-J’s place. S-C tells B-J their menu; B-J says no go and they go off to confer.
Menu changes. The chefs discuss/argue about changing the menu, and Bong-ju points out that he won the beef contest even though Sung-chan’s dish was technically better, because B-J considered his audience and the world market. They agree to it, and Jin-soo and Joo-hee, who were in on the confab, report back that the menu has been changed. (Mi-ran (J-S’s friend) gets a call from Mr. Han…another red herring?)
First main dishes. U-A-J has prepared spicy rice cakes, with a “haute cuisine” twist—lobster. Matsumoto’s team also has taken a popular Korean food, squid sausages (the squid is cut into mats, steamed and rolled around a stuffing), and “improved” it by stuffing it with a Japanese ingredient, pickled plums, some fish roe and herbs. [Let me say now, I find Japanese pickled plums one of the world’s more disgusting items. Just wrong. I wonder how many “foreigners” would agree with me. I doubt this ingredient would be an improvement on the Korean version, but I don’t know.] The dishes are served to the judges and guests. Some of the judges compliment Mat’s dish, but Ted Oh particularly likes the lobster and rice cakes by U-A-J.
Strategy sessions. There is a 10-minute break. B-J compliments S-J on his idea of using a cheap cut of meat for the second dish. Mat’s team decide to use a different sauce than their original plan.
Turning Japanese? Jin-soo is outraged, outraged by Mat's “Japanesing.” She says so twice--separately confirmed in her outrage, outrage, by Chef Choi. She consults elfin man about who will win. Too close to tell, he says. When J-S complains about “japanesing,” elfin man says that is why Mat is famous. [Not sure how to interpret this exactly—but there is a theme song...]
Second dishes. U-A-J are stuffing little pumpkins with a chopped, marinated beef mixture, and Mat marinates his beef-looks-like-thick-bacon with fermented bean paste. This sauce is from his restaurant in New York, so “He knows Americans already like it” [um. Really?] and all the judges are from New York . U-A-J’s supporters are worried; Mat’s are elated. [Now, these foodie judges are apparently regular visitors to Korea so one assumes they do enjoy and understand Korean food, but does that extend to Japanese food? They're not really that similar.] Mat makes a “special sauce” with Japanese wine and Korean-style soy sauce that is made in Japan. [eh?] The U-A-J boys look worried over their sauce; Bong-ju rejects it and runs out to get another one. At the last moment before they must present the dishes, he runs back in with the special sauce from their father, just in time for them to prepare their garnishing sauce. Both sides explain their dishes. Elfin man comments on Mat’s take on “not-spicy kimchee”: “Now they’ve ruined everything!” [tee hee] Results: Mat – 29.5; U-A-J – 30. They are now .5 apart. The judges explain that the “Korean-style” soy sauce, made in Japan, just wasn’t quite the right flavor.
Desserts. (Prepared ahead of time.) U-A-J has rice cakes (looks like big grapes—kiwi flavor) and tea; Mat has cookies and sherbet. The score is 30 U-A-J, 29.5 Mat, which means they’ve tied at 89 points. Apparently, the perfect ending to a Korean meal is hot tea, not cold sherbet. The judges confer, and decide the “ambassadors” will vote, too, because they were “just enjoying themselves and may have noticed something the judges did not.” [Apparently, they’re all set up to do this electronic voting by people who were not expected to vote.] The ambassadors give Mat 9.7 and U-A-J 9.9. U-A-J wins by .2. Happy happy jubilation [except J-H’s dad and Mr. Young—they look a little sick.]
New day at U-A-J. Happy happy work a day. Even Chef Choi and Min-woo are getting along famously. Bong-ju and pottery dad apologize to each other; Dad apologizes to Joo-hee. B-J asks him to stay and help; Dad says he’ll concentrate on running his own company. [Finally. Sheesh. Hasn’t that place gone out of business yet?]
So, here's what I've got so far. I was going to try to finish watching for lunch, but I've got a migraine. I want to go away from my desk. -Bo
11/11/10 (final episode) FIRST HALF
Grand Chef recap Ep24
Recap in a recap. We see the events leading up to Bong-joo’s grand entrance. He snarls at Min-woo, who apologizes as he is defended by Sung-chan. B-J accepts M-W and sends away the assistant who had been taking B-J’s place. S-C tells B-J their menu; B-J says no go and they go off to confer.
Menu changes. The chefs discuss/argue about changing the menu, and Bong-ju points out that he won the beef contest even though Sung-chan’s dish was technically better, because B-J considered his audience and the world market. They agree to it, and Jin-soo and Joo-hee, who were in on the confab, report back that the menu has been changed. (Mi-ran (J-S’s friend) gets a call from Mr. Han…another red herring?)
First main dishes. U-A-J has prepared spicy rice cakes, with a “haute cuisine” twist—lobster. Matsumoto’s team also has taken a popular Korean food, squid sausages (the squid is cut into mats, steamed and rolled around a stuffing), and “improved” it by stuffing it with a Japanese ingredient, pickled plums, some fish roe and herbs. [Let me say now, I find Japanese pickled plums one of the world’s more disgusting items. Just wrong. I wonder how many “foreigners” would agree with me. I doubt this ingredient would be an improvement on the Korean version, but I don’t know.] The dishes are served to the judges and guests. Some of the judges compliment Mat’s dish, but Ted Oh particularly likes the lobster and rice cakes by U-A-J.
Strategy sessions. There is a 10-minute break. B-J compliments S-J on his idea of using a cheap cut of meat for the second dish. Mat’s team decide to use a different sauce than their original plan.
Turning Japanese? Jin-soo is outraged, outraged by Mat's “Japanesing.” She says so twice--separately confirmed in her outrage, outrage, by Chef Choi. She consults elfin man about who will win. Too close to tell, he says. When J-S complains about “japanesing,” elfin man says that is why Mat is famous. [Not sure how to interpret this exactly—but there is a theme song...]
Second dishes. U-A-J are stuffing little pumpkins with a chopped, marinated beef mixture, and Mat marinates his beef-looks-like-thick-bacon with fermented bean paste. This sauce is from his restaurant in New York, so “He knows Americans already like it” [um. Really?] and all the judges are from New York . U-A-J’s supporters are worried; Mat’s are elated. [Now, these foodie judges are apparently regular visitors to Korea so one assumes they do enjoy and understand Korean food, but does that extend to Japanese food? They're not really that similar.] Mat makes a “special sauce” with Japanese wine and Korean-style soy sauce that is made in Japan. [eh?] The U-A-J boys look worried over their sauce; Bong-ju rejects it and runs out to get another one. At the last moment before they must present the dishes, he runs back in with the special sauce from their father, just in time for them to prepare their garnishing sauce. Both sides explain their dishes. Elfin man comments on Mat’s take on “not-spicy kimchee”: “Now they’ve ruined everything!” [tee hee] Results: Mat – 29.5; U-A-J – 30. They are now .5 apart. The judges explain that the “Korean-style” soy sauce, made in Japan, just wasn’t quite the right flavor.
Desserts. (Prepared ahead of time.) U-A-J has rice cakes (looks like big grapes—kiwi flavor) and tea; Mat has cookies and sherbet. The score is 30 U-A-J, 29.5 Mat, which means they’ve tied at 89 points. Apparently, the perfect ending to a Korean meal is hot tea, not cold sherbet. The judges confer, and decide the “ambassadors” will vote, too, because they were “just enjoying themselves and may have noticed something the judges did not.” [Apparently, they’re all set up to do this electronic voting by people who were not expected to vote.] The ambassadors give Mat 9.7 and U-A-J 9.9. U-A-J wins by .2. Happy happy jubilation [except J-H’s dad and Mr. Young—they look a little sick.]
New day at U-A-J. Happy happy work a day. Even Chef Choi and Min-woo are getting along famously. Bong-ju and pottery dad apologize to each other; Dad apologizes to Joo-hee. B-J asks him to stay and help; Dad says he’ll concentrate on running his own company. [Finally. Sheesh. Hasn’t that place gone out of business yet?]