[man] The most important ingredient
in the tacos is love.
Chef, I think you brought the heat.
[sizzling]
It is taco day here, and it is smelling delicious!
All right, let's go.
[woman] Josh, watch your tortillas.
-Oh, dear... - Rapido, rapido!
[man] How you guys feeling?
-[woman] Uh... -[man 2] A little stressed.
I got two minutes on that fryer, behind.
[Ted] Seconds remaining on that clock.
I am not gonna make it.
-[Ted counting down] -Come on, guys!
[Ted] Five, four...
The best time in the day to eat a taco is, I mean...
I eat them all day, so...
I'm the executive sous chef at Comedor in Austin, Texas
At the restaurant I cook modern Mexican cuisine,
When I'm composing a taco,
everything comes together in a symphony.
Different colors, different textures,
different components to make it pop.
[Josh] I find myself in Austin, Texas
to rediscover my Mexican roots.
I just love tacos, they're so beautiful,
they have so many different flavors, textures.
The perfect taco has everything.
It should have some heat, it should have some fat,
a little bit of crunch,
a little bit of everything.
I feel like these last 10 years of cooking
has brought me to this poin
and that I'm ready to show everybody who I am.
[Alex] I never really had a taco until I moved to Texas.
In Italy there was zero taco
I mean, not even a shadow of one.
I developed a strong passion for the taco
just because it was just the perfect vibe.
I tend to cook modern Japane
and so it gives me that litt bit of a twist of flavors
that elevates the taco.
I'm pretty humble, but I did not come here to lose.
[chuckles]
[Oscar] So, my tacos are the best tacos in the United States,
I'm not gonna lie.
[humming]
I like to keep it simple.
Get a nice, really fluffy tortilla
with a nice, braised meat, cebolla y tu cilantro.
I'm good under fire, I'm good under the heat,
I want it, I wanna win.
There's no competition here
There we go.
-Here it is. -Here's the basket.
Dreaded basket.
-Hi, chefs! -[all] Hey, Ted!
I have some news that should make you smile.
That's really just a word...
-Tacos! -Yes, all right.
-Real nice. -Say it with me.
[all together] Tacos!
We want you to make a taco fiesta
for the judges in every round.
If your dish doesn't cut it, you will be chopped.
-I don't think so. -No, don't wanna do that.
All right, first basket awaits!
How bad will this be?
-I don't know... -[Ted] Open them up.
Are you kidding?
-[laughs] -[Christina] Oh, jeez.
I don't know what that is.
[Ted] And you will be makin taco appetizers with super-h carne asada fries.
[Josh] I know I'm from Texas but this is even new for me
-[Ted] Rock shrimp... -Perfect.
[Ted] Red cabbage...
Cabbage looks great.
All right, cabbage.
Love that.
[Ted] And tepache.
I love tepache, it's so tasty.
Tepache is a fermented pineapple drink.
-Doesn't look too bad. -Yeah, it's not too bad.
A lot of things I could work with.
[Ted] Twenty minutes.
Clock starts now.
All right, guys, let's start this!
-Tacos! -Taco time!
[in sing-song voice] Taco time!
[Ted] Amanda, Tiffani, you are joined on the judges panel
by Claudia Sandoval!
-Here to bring some trouble. -Yes. Always.
-On taco day! -It is taco day here.
I'm so excited.
[Ted] Judges, Americans eat more than 4.5 billion tacos a year.
How many of those are you responsible for?
One billion, yeah.
[all laughing]
A couple bill.
The one billion tacos that I've eaten,
they've all been eaten after midnight.
[all laughing]
[Ted] Can we talk about why we love tacos so much?
Tacos are super versatile.
There's a thousand different styles of tacos.
[Claudia] Tacos are super important to Mexican food,
so I'm really interested to see what their interpretations
of these ingredients are.
A good taco has to have some type of protein,
a salsa, and that salsa is so important.
It brings through some vibrance,
it brings through a little spice.
Do you need some of these tortillas over here?
-I do, actually. -Share those.
Thank you.
[Oscar] Tacos to me are the perfect food
because you could just grab it, two to three bites,
and it's good to go.
-Chef Oscar! -Yes, ma'am?
Wanna taco 'bout it? What's going on over there?
[laughing]
So, I'm gonna make beer-battered shrimp
with a little salsa verde.
Ooh!
[Oscar] For my batter,
I'm seasoning it with cayenne and garlic powder.
I don't know about this tepache...
[Oscar] I just threw it in the batter.
Oh, yeah, that's not a bad idea.
Just a little batter over here.
[Amanda] Tepache is basically pineapple skins
And you ferment them with spices and sugar.
It's not very alcoholic.
Tepache is almost more like kombucha.
-Yeah. -Like, more fermented...
[Christina] I think I might just incorporate the tepach into a salsa.
Behind you.
I'm making a masa-fried shrimp taco
with blistered cabbage and a tepache salsa.
Whatchu got there, girl?
[Christina] Oh, some cabbage...
-Nice, nice. -Fresnos...
Two years ago, I started exploring Mexican cooking and techniques.
I wanted to get more in touch with my Mexican heritage side.
[Claudia] Can we talk about Chef Christina's salsa, though?
The fact that she included the tepache inside of the salsa
is known as a "salsa borracha,"
-which of course means drunk. -Drunk.
It's drunken salsa.
It's a very unorthodox way of using a liqueur.
[Alex] Tacos are something that I love to eat.
I love them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, I could eat tacos all day.
My game plan is to make a fried shrimp taco.
I added the tepache to make my vinaigrette.
for my green apple and cabbage slaw.
I see the other chefs using the tortilla,
and so I decided to go a different route.
[Tiffani] Alex, what are you making?
I'm gonna make a lettuce fried shrimp taco with mole.
Okay. Is the shell lettuce?
-Yes. -[exclaims]
Alex's challenging us with our definition of what is a taco.
[Amanda] When I think of a taco, I think of something that's hand-held,
I can fold it.
-You have to do the head tilt. -Yeah.
You have to do the taco tilt to eat it.
[Amanda] I agree! And it has to be running down your...
on your hands and your arms.
Okay.
[Oscar] I know I have to get the shrimp into the fryer immediately
to get a nice, crispy, golden flake onto the beer batter.
[Ted] How you guys doing over there?
-[Oscar] Good, good, good. -[Christina] Great, great.
Behind, behind, behind!
All these chefs seem to really know what they're doing.
Both me and Christina are from Austin, Texas,
so I know her well, I know what she does.
I know she's gonna come in here today and absolutely kill it.
I'm making shrimp, marinated in this tepache
with a salsa cruda, which just means "raw salsa.
I know that I have that avocado
on top of the hot fries,
so I put it in a blender with the tomatillo,
some serranos, jalapeno...
-Chef Josh. -What's up?
You got the hat that says tortillas, are we getting fresh tortillas?
-What are we making? -Uh...
No, we are not getting fresh tortillas.
20 minutes!
-You have plenty of time! -20 minutes seems a little bit too ambitious today.
I wore this hat in today because tortillas are what I do.
I'm that guy.
[Ted] 12 minutes on the clock, chefs!
12 minutes, heard, 12 minutes!
And it is smelling delicious!
[Alex] Let's hope so.
[Ted] The super-hot carne asada fries
really is a gift from Heaven.
You could choose to use any part of that plate of stuff.
[Alex] The hot carne asada fries, which is French fries
spicy, cheese puffs, avocado.
It looks delicious.
I wanna make a sauce in the vein of mole,
so I can have some nuts, dried chilies and the carne asada fries.
I know mole takes a long tim
this is just kinda like a fast way to be able to create something of that nature.
Behind you, behind.
Five minutes on the clock, chefs!
-Five minutes, heard! -Five minutes.
I got two minutes on that fryer, behind, behind!
Are both fryer baskets being used?
Yeah, give me two minutes.
-Less. -Okay, heard.
[Oscar] Chef Christina is also deep-frying her shri
so I'm hoping that mine will be crispier than hers.
-[Alex] Are you gonna use the fryer? -Yeah.
Oki doki.
I'm gonna predict a backup at the fryer at about two minutes left.
[Christina] I need to get my shrimp into the fryer
but both baskets are being used by Oscar.
If my shrimp aren't perfectly fried
I could definitely be going home.
[in sing-song voice] Okay.
I got two minutes on that fryer, behind, behind!
I need to get my shrimp into the fryer
but both baskets are being used.
So I'm starting to worry about time.
-[Oscar] Fryer's open. -Heard.
Yeah, come around, come around!
Come around!
[Christina] Behind, behind, behind.
[exclaims]
-You using both? -Take my basket.
Here.
The right one is empty.
-Okay, thank you. -Yeah.
Behind, behind. Coming through.
[Christina] Finally, I get my shrimp down in the baske just in time.
Chef Christina, she has not touched her carne asada fries.
-Oh, no. -Behind.
[Claudia] I'm honestly a little scared for her.
God, I don't know what to do with this.
[laughs]
I'm looking at these carne asada fries
and, honestly, I think the only think I can utilize
in the time that I have
is the guacamole on top.
[Ted] Chefs, calling the two-minute warning!
[Oscar exclaims]
[Oscar] And to the salsa I'm adding the aguacate from the fries.
I think my biggest strength in this competition
is keeping my cool, not stressing out
over being under the heat in such a small amount of time that is given to us.
Less than a minute! Less than a minute, guys!
Get everything on the plate!
[Claudia] Make sure you get salsas on there.
[Ted] Chefs, that clock is almost ticked out!
[Amanda] Come on, guys. C'mon, c'mon, c'mon.
Rapido, rapido!
[Ted] Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six, five,
four, three, two, one...
Time's up!
-All right. -[all cheering]
-[Amanda] Awesome, guys. -[Tiffani] Taco time!
[all laughing]
That was a quick 20 minutes. [chuckles]
Man, that was fast,
a lot faster than I thought it was gonna be.
I was getting ready this morning to get ready to get picked up
and I was, like, looking at the clock, like,
"20 minutes is not that bad."
But when you're in here... it's a lot, actually.
Chefs, you have arrived at the Chopping Block.
For the first basket of your taco showdown,
we asked you to make appetizers using super-hot carne asada fries,
rock shrimp, red cabbage and tepache.
Chef Christina, what do we have?
I've prepared a masa-fried shrimp taco on corn tortillas.
What would winning the taco competition mean to you?
[Christina] My grandmother is from Mexico.
I didn't really cook too much Mexican food,
not professionally, anyways,
but the past two years I feel like I've really gotten closer to my roots
and more in tune with my heritage.
The fact that you brough in those Mexican roots
of saying, "Hey, I'm gonna make a salsa borracha ."
I love that you brought that here
because I think that that just shows the versatility of the ingredients.
Everything inside of the taco is fantastic.
The rock shrimp is good.
I think you maybe could have had a little more seasoning
or flavoring on that masa coating.
[Tiffani] I agree with Amand
Maybe add a little bit of toasted cumin in there, a little bit of chili powder.
I love the charred Fresno salsa.
It's got just the right amount of heat,
the use of the tepache is really smart in the salsa.
It adds, like, the acid and the sugar to a salsa that you need...
It's really great.
And I also love that you charred the red cabbage.
It really gives this delicious sophistication...
-Thank you. -Thank you, Chef Christina.
Next up, Chef Josh.
So, what I have for you here is a little
tepache liqueur-marinated rock shrimp,
that then was glazed in it with a little chile de arbol, as well.
What is it that makes a taco a taco?
For me, a taco can kind of really be anything, uh,
as long as you have a tortilla, preferably home-made.
Flavor-wise, everything comes together really well.
-Thank you. -I like the spiced avo...
It's warm, it's still lingering...
I did have to manipulate it so I could get a bite.
Marinating the rock shrimp in the tepache...
it's a move that makes a lot of sense to add a lot more flavor.
I would have loved if you could bring some of that tepache down,
there's so much sugar, and then a little drizzle on top.
Chef, I think you brought the heat.
I mean, literally, right?
Because I'm from Mazatlan, we eat hot-hot.
Like, habanero-hot.
And my mouth was on fire.
I was like, "Oh, lord, what's happening over here?"
Like, Latina on fire, for real.
[all laughing]
I usually like to be able to close the taco,
and the fact that this was kind of over the top
made it a little bit hard to eat.
Okay.
Thank you, Chef Josh.
Next up, Chef Oscar.
I have for you guys a tepache beer-battered rock shrimp poblano red cabbage coleslaw
topped off with an aguacate salsa.
Where do you work, Chef Oscar?
I am a chef owner of a pop-up restaurant called Birria Ta-Ta-Tacos.
We're located in Chicago, Illinois.
We love to move around throughout Chicago.
Well, let's talk about your taco.
-Cool. -You got a lot of flavor into that small, little taco.
There was a good amount of heat.
I like the cotija on here. A lot.
And your rock shrimp was nice and crispy,
so there was a lot of different textures in here.
-It was a great first bite. -Awesome.
When you think of a taco, you want that sweet,
that salt, that fat, that acid, right?
And I feel like you give us all of that in that one bite.
I think, for me...
I'm gonna be a stickler.
For an appetizer size, it's just, like, I could barely close it.
[Ted] Thank you, Chef Oscar.
Finally, Chef Alex.
I just wanna do something different
and I didn't wanna choose the tortilla just because I felt like
I wanted to be a little more creative.
So, what I did, I did an iceberg lettuce cu and mole.
And then I did a five spice-fried shrimp.
So, Chef, I wonder what you were thinking
when Chef Josh said that a taco was anything that's inside a tortilla.
[laughs]
No, I don't think that.
I thought she was gonna rip me apart, probably,
when it was like, "That is not a tortilla."
We'll just wait.
Alex, you have given us a lot to "lettuce" consider.
-[Claudia laughs] -[Ted] Okay...
-You get one more. -You know who I am.
So interesting, right?
Like, I don't think a lettuce taco is inherently not a taco,
I get doing something different,
but it's iceberg lettuce,
does it stand up to a tortilla?
Eh... I don't know.
We award creativity and this is very, very creative.
Um, did you use the five spice on the shrimp or in your...
In the shrimp.
[Amanda] I actually really like that flavor profile on here.
I think it really, really works.
And I like the texture and the crunchiness of the lettuce.
To call something that you make in 20 minutes a mole
is a really big stretch.
Yeah.
The idea was a great idea but, you know, mole requires so much
to kind of allow it to blossom.
You need it in this for it to actually feel like a taco.
Because no taco can be a taco without salsa.
Thank you, chefs.
[Alex] The judging table was a little nerve-wracking
I feel like being a little more innovative and creativ
could be an advantage,
but it could also be a disadvantage.
Honestly, I think that there might be a chance that I'm on the Chopping Block.
The judges critiqued me about the portion sizes,
but I do think that my tacos were more creative than the other chefs.
[Ted] So, whose dish is on the Chopping Block?
Chef Alex, you've been chopped.
Judges?
Chef Alex, we really liked the way you did the five spice on the rock shrimp.
But I think the sauce being so unfinished
took away from the beautiful rock shrimp that you made,
and so we had to chop you.
Thank you, I appreciate it.
I feel bummed.
I could have chosen a different vessel.
I really didn't wanna get chopped first, but...
it's unfortunate.
Chef Oscar, Chef Christina, Chef Josh, second basket.
Open it up!
-The heck is this? -[Oscar laughs]
[Ted] Can you make killer tacos using...
agave worms?
All right.
As strange as it sounds, I was hoping to see some insects today.
-Some steak... -[Ted] Flank steak!
Flank steak.
Not bad...
[exclaims] Okay, okay, okay...
-[Ted] Zucchini. -I like that.
I like where this is heading.
[Ted] And baby corn elote.
An elote is corn, mayonnaise,
cotija cheese and chili powder.
Here we go.
You got 30 minutes.
Clock starts now.
-[all cheering] -All right, guys, go!
30 minutes, let's go, taco-time! Taco, taco, taco!
[Ted] Rapidamente!
-[Oscar chuckles] Rapidament - [Ted] andale, andale!
[Claudia laughs]
[Amanda] This is exciting!
This is very exciting.
I love that we have flank steak.
[Claudia] This is an amazing basket.
I think there's just so many gems.
The biggest one, those agave worms.
[Amanda] Ooh!
My favorite is to use them in a salsa,
because they add a little bit of nuttiness.
[Amanda] Yep, they're not, like, a worm that came out
of the bottom of a mescal or tequila bottle.
They're dry.
I'm grinding those worms into a dry rub for the flank steak.
If you think back to the 60s and 70s,
taco night only really happened at home.
You buy the shells, you bring them home.
Today, you cannot swing a cat without hitting 17 taco trucks.
[Claudia] And it's incredibl
We have everything from Korean tacos
to, like, Indian curry tacos.
-[Ted] Wow. -Phenomenal!
When it comes to tacos, I like to push the envelope.
So for my taco, I'm going in an Asian direction.
I'm making a seared steak flank taco
with a summer zucchini sala
and salsa fresca.
The soy sauce and the rice wine vinegar
are really flavorful and powerful
and they'll add a nice char to my flank steak on the grill.
[Josh] So, Christina, what did you think about those worms?
-Kind of excited about 'em. -Yeah.
I'm more, uh, what am I gonna do with these elotes?
[both laugh]
With those worms, I wanna make a salsa.
Ancho chiles, their smokiness plays off of the agave worms well.
I'm making carne asada ta
with a salsa borracha
and pickled zucchini.
I know I need to get that flank steak
in some sort of marinade
if I wanna get any sort of flavor on it.
So perhaps a habanero-base hot sauce and the soy sauce
The first round, the judges complained
a little bit about the size of my taco,
so I need to make a taco that's a little bit easier to eat.
How you doing over there, Oscar?
I'm going, I'm going.
[Oscar] I feel real confiden
I am making a chile relleno taco
because it's really nostalgic to me
and my grandmother used to make them all the time.
A chile relleno is a Guatemalan stuffed pepper.
I diced the flank steak
so it would be easier to stu
into the chile relleno.
For my filling, I will be using chorizo,
flank steak, zucchini, chili powder,
and garlic powder.
Chefs, less than 20 minutes on the clock!
20 minutes, all right.
-It's flying by. -Heard, 20 minutes.
I told the chefs that they need to create a taco entree.
[Claudia] I think it'll be interesting to see
how they interpret what an entree is.
Do you think I should go take a look?
-Yes, please. -I'd love it if you did.
Picha, how's it going?
Oh, it's going.
What do you think is the most challenging part of the ingredients?
Personally, it's the elote.
I don't have much time, so I can just make kind of elote salad.
Oh, they're going in!
-Yeah. -What's the plan?
I'm gonna make, like, a little butter elote corn sauce for the plate.
Okay, I've never heard of that, but I'm excited.
How are these going in?
Uh, I'm gonna make a little salsa.
-Do you like 'em? -I love them.
Especially with a little shot of mescal.
[laughs]
Oh, there we go.
-Thank you, Chef. -Thank you.
Chef, how's it going?
I'm doing a little chile relleno for you guys today.
How is the chile relleno a taco?
It's gonna go into the taco. A chile relleno taco.
Okay!
And then what's happening with your baby corn?
Is it just kinda...
[Oscar] That's gonna be incorporated into the stuffing for the chiles rellenos.
[Claudia] All right, thank you.
-Yes, thank you. -Good luck.
[Oscar] I grew up eating elotes
but never used a baby corn elote.
Our local elote vendor would go around every block
he'll toot his horn
and that's when you go to go outside to get an elote.
[Claudia] Corn usually was given up to the gods
as an offering.
There is fables of a maize god.
I bet at the end of this round all of our chefs are gonna be praying to the maize god.
-Yeah. -Yeah.
-[Claudia laughs] -[Tiffani] Oh, yeah.
[Christina] To go along with my steak, I'm making a summer zucchini salad
with grilled and raw zucchin
to give it different textures and flavors.
10,000 dollars would mean that I could take the time to go explore Mexico.
I really want to gain experience with working with Mexican chefs
and local Mexican ingredients.
How you looking over there?
Uh, I gotta get my meat on.
Chefs, less than five minutes on the clock.
Behind you.
Josh just came with corn into his station.
And tequila. Okay.
[Josh] I want the salsa to b more of a salsa borracha,
which means "drunken salsa."
I need to figure out this corn salad.
So I just start mandolining the corn into the bowl
and I mix that up
with the elote puree that I made and a little bit of raw zucchini.
[Ted] Chefs, calling the two-minute warning!
[Christina] I'm wishing I ha a little bit more time to rest the steaks
because they're kind of bleeding.
[Amanda] You guys, Oscar is going to the fridge.
Okay, guys, come on. It's coming out of the wire.
All four ingredients, consistent plates.
[Christina] Josh, watch your tortillas.
I'm serving the tortillas on the side of my dish,
and then you can build your own tacos.
[Ted] 30 seconds, chefs!
-Heard! -Heard!
[Oscar] Behind, behind. Come around, come around. How you guys feeling?
-[Christina] Uh... Yeah. -[Josh] A little stressed.
[Claudia] Ay, ay, ay.
[Ted] Andale, andale, che!
Seconds remaining on that clock.
Ten, nine, eight.
-Seven, six... -Come on, guys!
[Ted] Five, four, three, two, one...
Time's up!
[Josh] I am happy with my dish.
Hopefully my flavors speak for themselves and move on to the next round.
I took a risk doing my own style of a chile relleno,
so I hope it does pay off.
[Ted] Chefs, your second extemporaneous expressions
of taco devotion
had to include agave worms,
flank steak, zucchini,
and baby corn elotes. Chef Oscar.
Today I have a chiles rellen
stuffed with flank steak, zucchini, Oaxaca cheese and chorizo.
On the side there I have a salsa de cacahuete
The chiles rellenos brings me back home,
and memories from my grandma.
Thanksgiving and Christmas is usually hosted at her house
and my grandma passed away,
so the 10,000 dollars would help me out
in purchasing a house for my family to come
and have Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas...
I'm sure they would eat well.
Oh, yeah.
[Claudia] This is something that, much like yourself, my abuela taught me,
so I love this idea.
We all commend your ambition here.
The chile itself is deliciou
Chile relleno means "stuffed chili"
The chile's not that stuffed.
There's a tiny bit of meat and a tiny bit of corn inside of here.
I love the salsa con cacahuete.
[Ted] Salsa what?
Cacahuete! It's one of my favorite words.
-What is-- -It's peanut.
-Oh, it's peanut? -Cacahuete means peanut.
-It's a peanut salsa. -Yes, it's a peanut salsa.
He specifically used peanut butter,
which is obviously the easy way out.
The salsa is sublime.
It is so delicious.
It plays against the chile
in a way that is very nutty and rich.
I mean, I really would eat that salsa every day
and twice on Sundays.
Really good.
Thank you, Chef Oscar.
Next up, Chef Christina.
Chefs, today I made for you
a seared flank steak taco
marinated in ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar...
[Claudia] I love this idea of the tortilla on the side
because it is very familial.
It's the Mexican version of breaking bread, right?
-Right, exactly. -Sharing tortillas, so thank you for that.
[Tiffani] The colors are so vibrant
and present so nicely.
The zucchini, the tomatoes, the herbs just look like a really nicely composed plate.
But everything is really raw.
The flank steak is rare, but it's raw.
The zucchini is crunchy,
but I think it needs some smoke, some char.
I echo a lot of what Tiffani said.
I really appreciate the freshness here,
but I think what was missing was more seasoning.
I'm smiling and it's for a good reason.
This is literally what it's like to eat at my mom's house.
Because we're trying to stay a little more healthy on the Mexican side,
then we, like, grow zucchini.
You bring to the forefront the more traditional
and yet the more "elevated" Mexican, so thank you for that.
Thank you, Chef Christina.
Finally, Chef Josh.
All right, so what I have for you guys here
is a little carne asada with a salsa borracha,
some pickled zucchini,
and then a little side sala
of some raw zucchini, corn and radish.
[Ted] 10,000 dollars?
I'm currently trying to open up my own little taco truck.
There must be a lot of taco trucks in Austin.
[Claudia] There's no such thing as too many tacos.
-No. -You heard.
Trust me. It's "tacos befor e vatos," all the time.
Before what?
Tacos before vatos.
It means "tacos before dudes."
-You know. -[all laughing]
It's the Mexican version of "fries before guys".
-Yes! -[all laugh]
I love the fact that there's this very creamy dressing
but there's still some acidity there.
The fact that you pickled your zucchini
to put it on top of your tac
also something I'm a very big fan of.
I'm happy that I can taste the soy in your marinade.
Where you kinda lost me a little bit is in your salsa borracha.
I feel like it came through as very sweet,
but I'm glad that I can hold it like a taco,
that it closes like a taco, that I can put my mouth around it without being crazy.
Awesome.
[Amanda] This plate was very colorful
and thank you for giving me some serious flank steak here.
It's good, it's delicious, well cooked.
The zucchini and the corn salad, not so much.
A little more love on the zucchini in that salad
would have made it come together better with the corn.
I think the taco itself, there's, like, something that it's missing.
And then I ate the corn with the taco,
and it sung.
It was just, like, "Okay, this is it."
Okay, thank you.
[Christina] I think this last round
went not as well as the first round.
I had a lot going on in my head of things I wanted to put together,
but the time went by really quickly.
Whose dish is on the Chopping Block?
[sighing] Chef Oscar, you've been chopped.
Judges.
Chef Oscar, we collectively felt
like this was such a great idea.
Chiles rellenos inside of a taco, great entree idea.
We just felt like there wasn't enough of that flank steak
or that zucchini inside as a filling.
And so, we had to chop you.
-Thank you. -Guys, thank you.
-[Ted] Good luck to you, Chef. -Thank you.
-Guys, good luck. -Thank you.
[Oscar] I kinda dropped the ball on that one, huh?
To Josh and Christina,
you guys are really talented chefs,
real happy for you guys.
Good luck.
Chef Christina, Josh, check these out.
Open your baskets!
[both laugh]
Oh, my gosh.
All right, okay.
-Some sort of ice cream sandwich. -Oh, God.
[Ted] And we see horchata ice cream sandwiches!
Cobanero peppers.
[Josh] A little peppers...
I'm not even sure what that is. [laughs]
All right, and... black beans.
Black beans?
No idea what that is.
[Ted] And Mexican chocolate.
It's sweet and delicious.
That's probably a no-brainer on that one.
[sighs] Yay.
[Ted] 30 minutes.
Exciting basket, I think. What do you think?
Oh. No time to answer. Clock starts now.
-[judges cheering] -All right, here we go!
Come on, guys!
-Sweet tacos! -Sweet taco time!
[Amanda] This is the taco dessert round.
We're expecting a sweet taco!
Yeah.
And we're expecting home-made tortilla. From Josh.
[Gloria] He'll be living up to his hat.
-[Amanda] Senor Tortilla. -[all laugh]
He's been representing all day on his hat.
-He's here now. Yes. -Just make them!
[Josh] Christina has absolutely killed it.
If I don't come into this last round with my A-game,
I'm gonna be going home today without the 10K.
I'm making a spiced Mexican chocolate
and black bean puree
with plantains and corn tortillas.
I'm making a tortilla this round, no matter what.
I put the horchata cookies and the masa harina in the food processor.
That masa harina is very traditional
when making corn tortillas.
And I add water.
Josh is finally making tortillas!
Josh, are you making tortillas?
-I am making tortillas. -[all cheer]
[all laughing]
I wore the hat, gotta do it at some point.
[Christina] I've eaten at Josh's restaurant in Aust
and I know he can make a good taco.
I feel like the pressure is definitely on.
I mean, it has been on all day [laughs].
Back home at my own restaurant,
I make fresh tortillas every day,
so I wanna show the judges what I can do.
-Could I have some of that masa? -Go for it.
[in sing-song voice] And she's asking Josh for masa!
[all exclaiming]
She wants to make tortillas.
Mine are gonna be better, so it's okay.
[Christina] I'm making a cinnamon sugar tortilla,
a black bean-chocolate sauc
and an almond crumble.
I taste the Mexican chocolat and it's very sweet,
with a little hint of cinnamon and spice.
Everything's so sweet.
It's Mexican chocolate, the consistency of it is a little grittier...
-It's coarse. -It's coarse.
I mean, this chocolate is meant to be made into hot chocolate.
It's not used as a chocolate to melt down and cover strawberries
or make truffles with.
[Christina] I add the Mexican chocolate into the pot
and start melting that down with the black beans,
cobanero peppers and the ice cream base from the horchata sandwich.
Since I'm using all four ingredients
in this one sauce, I need to make sure it's perfect.
[Claudia] Horchata is this Mexican drink
that's made out of rice and cinnamon
and it's just the most delicious, milky rice...
And so refreshing!
So good. It's refreshing, it works nicely against heat.
[Claudia] Yes.
Cobanero pepper, it's dried, it's warm,
but it's not overly spicy.
Yeah, it's more along the lines of a cayenne.
A little bit spicier than a serrano,
a little bit less spicy than a cayenne.
[Ted] All right, chefs, you've got less than 15 minutes to go here!
-Heard! -[Josh] 15 minutes, heard.
[Claudia] Chef Josh, what are you making?
It's definitely not mole.
I'm not gonna fall into that trap again.
[all laughing]
But some chocolate, some chiles, blitzing them in,
and then I'm gonna get a little bit of some caramelized platanos.
[Ted] Chefs, you got less than 10 minutes.
-[Christina] Heard. -[Josh] Less than 10, heard.
Josh and Christina are both chefs from Austin,
so not only are they from a city that knows tacos,
they know each other by reputation.
Josh is starting to make the tortillas.
This is the moment.
[Ted] Has he got his masa dough to the right consistency
where he can make the tortillas nice and really thin?
They are both currently making tortillas.
[Josh] I soft made all these tortillas
and I put these cookies in here,
but then it might not cook through as well
because of those cookies.
If these tortillas go wrong,
I have not considered a back-up plan.
Why did I make tortillas?
We're at six minutes.
Six minutes.
[Josh] At this point, soft-make all these tortillas.
Both Christina and Josh have their tortillas, they're pressing them,
and they're getting them on their comals, their flattened pan,
[Ted] Less than five minutes on that clock, chefs!
[both] Heard.
Tiffani, now is your time to make a joke about how they're pressed for time.
[Claudia laughs]
I feel like I'm gonna get fired if I have any more stupid puns.
[Ted and Claudia laughing]
[Josh] I'm giving some serious char on these tortillas right now
Mine are a little puffy, that's good, yay!
-Mine are not puffy. -[Christina laughs]
I sprinkle my tortillas with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.
and they start to caramelize
-[Ted] Two-minute warning, chefs! -Heard.
[Josh] Some nuts would be nice on here,
so I've tossed walnuts and a little bit of sugar and some cinnamon
and get them toasted.
[Christina] For the crumble I'm using the cookies from the ice-cream sandwich
toasted almonds, and pepitas
Almonds and pepitas are really prevalent in Mexican cuisine.
I believe the flavors will work well with the cookies.
-[Ted] One minute, chefs! -[Claudia exclaims]
[Christina] I feel like my dessert is missing something,
but I look up at the clock and I literally have...
[Ted] 30 seconds, chefs!
Behind!
I want tartness or some fruitiness,
so I grab the raspberry preserves.
-[Amanda] Come on, guys. -[Claudia] Come on!
You've gotta stop, you got 10 seconds left!
-[Ted] 10 seconds of the final round here! -Sweet taco time!
-[Ted] Ten, nine... -[Tiffani] Time to speed up.
-Let's go. -[Ted] Eight, seven...
-Here it is, all right, c'mon! -[Ted] Six...
-Five, four... -[whoops]
-[Claudia] Clean those plates! -Three, two...
One... time's up!
-[all cheer and clap] -All right!
[Christina] I really feel like my dish needs another component,
but I'm really happy with how the sauce turned ou
so I'm hoping that that will give me a good chance.
[Josh] I think Christina is a great chef,
and I'm super happy that I got to have
a little heavyweight fight for Austin, Texas.
Either way, Austin wins today.
[Ted] Chef Christina, Chef Josh.
In the taco showdown dessert basket
you got horchata ice cream sandwiches,
cobanero peppers, black bean
and Mexican chocolate.
Chef Josh, what do we have?
So what I have here for dessert is
a caramelized plantain
and spiced Mexican chocolat and black bean puree
on a tortilla made with the cookies from the ice-cream sandwiches.
Well, we're very excited that you made tortillas,
and I think you got some good flavor into them.
In the rest of the taco, you have plantains that are not ripe.
They're really dry.
You need some fat, you need some creaminess.
I agree with Amanda.
It starts with the tortilla and then everything else
just screams "horchata ice-cream,"
it was right there.
I love the walnuts, the candied walnuts are so delicious.
I'm so glad that you were like,
"Tortillas on my head, tortillas on my plate."
[Josh and Claudia laugh]
I had to.
And you executed it perfectly,
creating kind of this almost bunuelo kinda flavor, it's phenomenal.
I just wish you had a maduro instead of a green plantain,
because right now it really is starch on starch on starch.
That last kind of, you know, like, little dab of, like, that kind of preserve
really helped you out because it brightened the dish a little bit.
Thank you, Chef Josh.
Finally, Chef Christina.
I made a spicy chocolate sauce
with an almond crumble
and a cinnamon-sugar masa tortilla.
[Amanda] The plate looks so beautiful.
The chocolate sauce is delicious.
It's got really nice heat, I like it.
But man, this is dry.
You guys are on a dairy strike or something.
-Um... -Yeah.
I mean, just a dollop of crema...
Yeah.
[Claudia] I couldn't agree more, that's where I'm really struggling
with things on your plate
is this kind of chocolate sauce where
you obviously included some of that horchata ice cream sandwich in
and that cobanero pepper.
Absolutely obsessed with that.
I think you should put that on your menu, that sauce.
The chocolate sauce is just spectacular.
You have these moments that are just like, "Oh, damn. This is really good."
It just needs to come together.
[Ted] Okay. All three courses will be taken into consideration now.
Thank you, chefs.
[exhales through mouth]
Well, that's over.
[laughs]
I was really glad I grabbed that raspberry jam.
I just wish I could have done, like, something else.
I mean, I honestly, like, was kind of expecting the critique they gave me.
-Yes. -So...
I looked at it and I knew that it would eat kind of dry.
-Very exciting taco day. -Yeah.
Did we get the tacos we were looking for?
Some tacos that we were looking for.
I would say...
You know what I think we got a lot of today?
Fantastic sauces.
We really did.
That salsa cruda that Jo made from the appetizer round, spectacular.
[Amanda] I think his rock shrimp was a little bit confused.
He kinda sauteed them with that tepache.
And there was just not the balance of flavors that we really wanted.
Christina's rock shrimp was cooked really nicely.
Beautifully fried, I just wanted spice.
[Amanda] And really, the only thing that she manipulated flavor-wise
was the Fresno pepper sauce
and the cabbage.
Those two elements were just brilliant.
But then Christina came to the second round
and the salsa was a little bit raw.
[Amanda] Nothing really came together.
You had a flank steak which was not seared,
not charred, and very, very rare.
Mmm-hmm.
That really did look like the most entree level worthy,
but I agree, there was no caramelization of anything.
Then we get to Josh's tacos
and that salsa borracha was really really sweet...
until I added the elote crem on top of that,
and then that taco came together.
[Amanda] Although he got luc because his side really didn't work.
The large, raw coins of zucchini really threw it off.
If one of them had a taco truck outside right now,
which one would have the line?
[Josh] I put myself on that plate.
I made tortillas.
[laughing] That's what I said I was gonna do,
so I'm here to win Chopped
and I think that's what I did.
[Christina] I'm definitely gonna be the Chopped champ
I believe that I make the best tacos in Austin
and it would mean a lot to me
to prove that to everybody else.
So, whose dish is on the Chopping Block?
Chef Christina, you've been chopped.
Judges?
Chef Christina, it is so clear that you know how to make a beautiful sauce.
We have these moments of composition
that are just mind-blowing.
But in the entree round, the flank steak and the zucchini
were these kind of raw elements,
and then we just got this very, very dry dessert.
So, we had to chop you.
Thank you, it was a pleasure to meet you.
-Thank you. -It was really a pleasure.
Thank you.
[voice breaking] I'm a little disappointed.
Definitely would have wanted to win.
But... didn't happen today.
And that means, Chef Josh Kagenski,
you are the Chopped champi.
10,000 dollars is yours for your epic triumph.
Way to go.
[judges cheering]
Whew.
I feel so good that I just won Chopped.
I'm still in shock right now.
I really honestly don't know how to process this.