The American Barbecue Showdown (2020) s01e06 Episode Script

1
Hey, you guys!
Come on out.
Oh, it's gonna be so exciting.
- Get a move on, y'all.
- I'm runnin' as fast as I can.
- Oh, crap.
- What is this stuff?
Is that a grill?
Comin' off of the roadkill challenge,
I was in the bottom two, somewhere
I haven't been yet in this competition,
and I'm ready to jump it up
on this next challenge.
-Hello.
-Hey.
-Good mornin', everybody.
- Hi.
The thing that gets me through
these is knowin', "Hey…
no matter what,
Big Worm's still here with me."
That's the whole reason
I wanna win this thing.
Um, does anything look
a little bit different to y'all?
-You guys are settin' booby traps now.
- No!
It looks like a grave.
Maybe it's my grave.
I don't know!
All right, so barbecue
has a deep and complicated history.
People have been barbecuing here
long before this place was called America.
Your challenge is to prepare a feast
featuring two proteins and two sides,
using equipment and ingredients
from two of the most important periods
in barbecue history.
That's gonna be interesting.
I've learned a little bit about history.
So, first, there's pre-colonization.
Before the Spanish arrived
in the Americas,
the Indigenous people were cooking
over fire on wooden platforms.
-What a challenge.
-That is a challenge.
So then there's antebellum.
-See, I'm a sixth-generation barbecuer.
My granny used to always tell me stories
about how my ancestors
cooked farm animals over open pits.
For each of these historical periods…
you'll be cooking one protein and one side
that were typically prepared
during that time.
For pre-colonization, you'll be cooking
whole fish or wild turkeys,
and your ingredients are
kabocha squash, Idaho potatoes,
scuppernongs and wild rice.
So then there's antebellum.
You'll be cookin' mutton or goat
and your ingredients for antebellum are…
wax beans, baby turnip, parsnips,
barley and button mushrooms.
All right.
That's a grand total of two proteins
and two sides.
We want you to prove to us
that you're not only amazin' barbecuers
for this time, but for all times.
- Mm.
-And there's one more thing.
-Uh-oh.
You're gonna be working in teams.
Hmm!
-Okay.
-All right.
So…
Rasheed…
-Ma'am.
- You are teamed up with…
-Tina.
- Hey!
I'm thrilled
that Rasheed's my cooking partner,
'cause he likes, like,
strong flavors, like I do.
He's strong. Did I mention he's…
strong?
Which also means,
you can probably figure out, that,
Ashley, you and Sylvie
are teamed up together.
-We got this, Ms. Sylvie.
-We got this.
To get paired up with Ms. Sylvie,
that's an honor.
I… I feel like
we're gonna do really well together.
Now, on a serious note
this means that if your team ends up
on the bottom, one of you is going home.
We'll determine who that teammate will be
by a mid-smoke challenge
that we'll reveal to you later today.
Ashley has never been in the top position,
so that's causing me
a little bit of, uh, anxiety.
I've got my hands behind my back
with my fingers crossed
just hoping that we can
at least be the winning team.
You have six hours.
All right? Let's please get…
old-school smokin'.
- Whoo!
- Let's go!
-Go, go, go!
- Let's do it.
So we're down to our final four.
The best of the best.
We're goin' back to the 1800s, 1700s.
We takin' 'em way back.
We've got pits in the ground.
You have to monitor these fires.
You gotta know how to keep
the temperatures right.
This is a tough challenge.
- Start bringing wood.
- Yes.
- I'll dig us a hole.
- We going with oak?
Uh-- Whatever you feel
is lightest to bring on over.
No! I want a long burn. I think oak.
- What's goin' on, Ms. Tina?
-Lookin' for a basket of chips,
-and I don't mean potato chips.
-Wood chips.
- Yeah.
-This is gonna be so fun to watch.
So what makes a good team of competitors
in barbecue competitions?
Really, when it comes down to crunch time,
you have to honor each other's opinions,
and you have to work together.
We wanna win.
-I don't want either one of us goin' home.
-Exactly. Same here.
The teammates have to agree
on what they're cookin'…
how they're flavoring it, cooking methods.
That's where I'm thinkin'
that we may see a different side to it.
There may be just a little bit of tension
today that we haven't seen before.
That can get a little tricky.
If you wanna start off maybe
lookin' over some of our meat selection…
I was thinking…
-goat on there?
-Goat? Okay.
I can go with goat.
I didn't have a preference.
Pre-colonial period?
Thinkin' maybe the salmon,
because the salmon we can put on later
and we don't have to worry--
I was thinkin' about doin' the turkey
and wrappin' it.
I don't know if we got
enough time to brine it.
-I think salmon on that rig would be good.
-Okay.
The challenge is we have to make
two proteins and two sides in six hours.
Cooking on a team
is not anything I've ever done.
We do have two different styles of cooking
and approaches to things.
So if we can't
complete separate tasks together…
we're not gonna be able
to come out on top on this challenge.
What are you thinkin' meat-wise?
I was thinkin' salmon.
We're on the same page
on that one.
Uh, antebellum. Mutton or, uh, goat leg?
I was goin' with mutton,
-only because I think goat is just tough.
-That's what I was-- Yeah, I do, too.
I'm gonna let Ms. Sylvie take the lead
on this one.
She's won the last two challenges,
so obviously,
she knows what the judges like.
The major key for this challenge
is definitely going to be fire management.
And that's why the first thing I'm doing
is getting a huge roaring fire,
so I've got a bed of coals
and a heat source going.
'Cause we're gonna need a lot of wood
and a lot of coals and a lot of heat
to cook two proteins and two sides
in six hours.
This pre-colonial era barbecue
is a simple grill
made of sticks supported by posts.
It was originally used to cook and smoke
proteins like fish.
Basically, they would have
a fire underneath
and this wooden platform.
One of the things
that we had to take into consideration--
We had to use the vessels
and the equipment of that time.
That also includes
the meats that were available,
along with some of the herbs
and things like that that naturally grow.
Not very sharp!
Oh, boy.
For pre-colonial, I'm thinking whole fish,
'cause that would have been something
that… you caught it that morning
and you just put it over the-- the pit,
over the fire, and cooked.
What are you thinkin'
as far as sides?
I was gonna go
with the bigger squash.
Maybe pierce the skin a little
bit, and then we just toss it on the fire
and let it roast and steam
from the inside out.
Roast it whole? Roast it?
I'm worried that it's gonna be too done.
Trust me.
I'm not sure about the squash
directly in the flame.
I-- I have not…
cooked like that.
I've wrapped it in foil and put stuff.
Let the fire do the work for us.
For pre-colonial…
we're gonna do salmon stuffed with herbs
and… "kombucha" squash?
So, Rasheed, you've been a frontrunner
in this competition.
How do you play well with others?
Not well, to be perfectly honest with you,
if I have to be frank about it.
So what do you think
are the potential pitfalls?
The concern, our two opposing flavors.
She likes spice and flavor,
just like I do.
Uh, we have
a different way of going about it.
I think hot…
I go Scotch bonnet.
She thinks hot, maybe chili peppers.
But I prefer hot with a purpose.
If this was a solo challenge,
oh, boy, I'd be havin' a ball.
When you rely on others, you're settin'
yourself up for a possible disappointment.
When you're workin' in teams,
it's a little difficult,
because you want to make your partner
feel respected…
with their knowledge,
but you also want your technical ability
and your skills to shine through.
All right, I'mma stuff the fish.
- How's it goin'?
- It's goin'.
I just caught this in the pond over there.
-You-- It looks like it.
- Hot coals.
-It's very fresh.
-Hot coals.
Yeah, be careful.
So I think I'm just gonna get
some of the…
flavors out by mashin' 'em up,
and release 'em,
and then put 'em inside the cavity.
And before we serve it,
of course, we'll pull it out.
For pre-colonial,
we're doin' salmon.
She's stuffing the salmon
with citrus and garlic herbs
and I'm making twine out of corn husks.
Gonna use this
to make a little twine to wrap around
so it-- all that stuff doesn't, uh,
slip out as it's cookin'.
Have either of you ever cooked
on something like this before?
-On a pile of sticks? No.
-No.
-Never cooked on a pile of sticks.
-No.
I've cooked weenies and stuff.
Marshmallows on sticks.
Before I wrap this up,
do you have any more ideas?
-You saw what I stuffed it with.
-I wanna put a little bit of heat in.
I'm gonna get
a nice Scotch bonnet pepper or two.
Okay.
I'm a little worried
these are gonna be really hot.
- Let 'em soak.
-I'd talk more,
but I don't want you to get in trouble
with Miss Tina, so I'll just step away.
-Good luck, y'all.
Phew!
You gonna put all that in our fish?
Okay…
Well, you gotta bring the heat.
-Are you gonna take the seeds out?
-No, that's where the heat is.
I know, but I'm a little worried.
Okay, I won't put the stem in.
-Yeah. Don't put the stem in.
-They loved the jerk.
They loved everything hot.
They wanted it hotter.
-Well, I did win twice.
-There you go.
Oh, that sounds mean.
I've been to a lot of competitions,
and I try to learn from previous mistakes.
You're cookin' for the judges.
Not for you.
I'm stuffing my salmon…
with a number of different herbs.
Also got some oranges in there.
And there's no quantities.
I just grabbed what I needed out of there
and I just stuck it in here.
That should do it.
Hopefully, the-- the banana leaves
also impart some flavor to it.
We'll create an environment where we can
get some steaming and braising going on
inside of the banana leaves.
I had these little blades to get it cut,
and…
Give you an example.
Uh-oh. That might be short.
We're good to go. I'm gonna take this out
so that, when Ashley gets the pit set up,
then we can put it on,
we can go from there.
With an Indigenous cooking rack
that's made out of wood,
and it's all roped together,
can you set that on fire?
Absolutely.
You can set any kind of wood on fire.
Meaning you need a very low fire.
-You need a slow fire.
- And even with that,
'cause you're sittin' that fire
on top of sand…
the fire still has to breathe.
You know what we should do, too?
Put these big…
-uh, calabaza squash on there.
-Yeah.
Just put it directly on the coals.
For the pre-colonization era, we're gonna
do some salmon wrapped in banana leaves,
smoked over our, um… flame,
and roasted squash.
It's gettin' there.
-It's okay. We'll be okay.
-I can--
I can hold my hand there
for quite a little bit of time.
It's a big piece of salmon
that's way above the fire,
and if you cook it
with a lot of heat under it,
you could burn down
the stick burner contraption.
But if we cook it too low,
then it may not get done.
This is pre-colonization,
so you just go along with touch, feel,
and knowing the time
that it takes to cook that fish.
I don't--
I don't know this apparatus thing here.
How long do you think
that salmon will take?
Throughout this challenge,
I'm-- I'm finding myself becoming
more and more the leader of the team.
Ashley's forfeiting
a lot of the decision-making to me.
Five hours. You guys have
five hours left in your cook.
During the antebellum era,
barbecue was cooked over shallow pits
or trenches that were filled with coals.
The thing about the antebellum
is you have no way to trap smoke and heat.
That smoke and heat are comin' directly
out from those grates and escaping.
So, basically, you're roasting.
Back in those days,
it was just… basic, and it worked.
And it was more better for bigger cuts
of meat, like the mutton and the goat,
and that's how they started usin' mutton,
'cause everybody liked lamb,
of course, the younger ones.
They started usin' mutton,
because after they'd take the wool
off the old lambs, they had to have…
they had to have use for the meat.
We wanna make sure that we finish strong.
Uh… That we give it our all.
-I'm not ready to go.
-Bring the flavor.
-Exactly. The big thing.
-I want that.
So antebellum, we're doin' the goat.
-Mm-hm.
-We're gonna roast-- I got the pit goin'.
- How close is it to bein' ready?
- Oh, it's ready.
-We can put the goat on it now.
-Oh, I need to hurry!
-We're gonna get it stuffed up
-with the garlic, the thyme.
-I'm workin' on it.
- Maybe some roasted mushrooms.
-True.
I was thinking' about roastin' turnips
and parsnips together.
-Mm-hm. All right.
-So…
Think that's thick enough to give us
a good crust?
I think that'll be real nice.
I am seasoning my mutton
for the antebellum period.
The mutton is a very old lamb,
and it's a very tough meat
that would have been available to people
during that-- that era.
And I'm goin' old school,
pushin' garlic down in some holes in it.
Because back in these days,
they didn't have injectors,
so you couldn't inject flavor,
you had to put it in there.
Nothin' fancy, gourmet.
Just basic "put it on the table,
feed my family."
- We oughta go fat-side down.
- For it to sear.
Those holes in that pit are pretty big.
So, uh, just by throwin' some onions
on our mutton and renderin' that fat,
it's gonna drip down
to the, uh… fireside…
and that flavor's gonna come back up,
uh, in the smoke.
-Yeah.
-Tender with some flavor.
So if it falls down in there,
it just comes right back up.
Let's get this on there.
-There it is.
- Oh, that sounds good.
-That's exactly what I wanted to hear.
- Sizzle!
Antebellum goat. Let's name her.
- Annie?
-What's… Annie!
-Annie.
-Annie.
-All right. Annie.
-We named our goat Annie for "antebellum."
-There we go.
-So after we sear both sides?
Then we can separate the coals
-and let the heat go around it.
-Okay, good.
Our antebellum period…
is going to be herb-roasted goat leg,
along with button mushrooms
and steamed baby turnips and parsnips.
Think we can render
some of this pork fat off
and then put the bacon for flavoring
to use as basting?
-I think we can.
-Okay.
Remember, we can use cast iron.
-In antebellum, yeah, we can.
-In antebellum. Yeah.
-We can put the--
-See that big pan?
-Mm-hm.
-We could use that. We can render on that.
Antebellum time period…
It's kinda crazy.
We've gotta watch our step.
It's in the ground.
Also, along with that,
we can't just leave the coals
directly under what we're cooking.
It'll easily burn. It's on a metal grate.
That metal will retain that heat
and could easily overcook our goat leg.
Gettin' the flavor from the, uh…
- …pork.
-Careful.
Along with the flavor from all these
fresh herbs, and here we've got some…
key lime leaves, some rosemary.
Some thyme.
-Keep it nice and moist and flavorful.
- Moist.
The antebellum era,
you wanna do wax beans,
green beans, button things?
I don't know much about wax beans.
Parsnips?
Um…
You know…
Mushrooms might be a better thing to do.
Um… It's your call.
For antebellum, we're gonna make
mutton and button mushrooms.
If you don't get it tender,
it's chewy and you can't eat it,
so we have to make sure
that we get this mutton cooked tender.
You want me to stay out here
and just tend to this?
Uh… Uh, you can put it together.
Do you think that's brown enough?
Are you thinkin'
these can go back on the direct side?
If I say something,
Ashley is tending to agree with me.
And as a teammate,
standing by and just letting things happen
as they do is not team playing.
What Ashley is doin' is what we call
a "pit " in the barbecue world.
-One person takes charge of the cooking
and the other just pretty much
takes care of the fire.
You think that's
what's happenin' right now with Ashley?
I hate for Ash to be sitting up there
being called a . I don't think so.
He doesn't wanna let Sylvie down.
- And she's not gonna go for it.
-Mm-mm.
And I think he'll do
whatever she tells him.
- You think?
I really feel like,
that if you're a true barbecuer…
you love being in the fire, in the smoke.
We have always paid homage
to that primal instinct
of cooking meat with fire.
It's one of the last true arts…
that really remains the same.
Just pour a little over it.
Not too greasy, but…
'Cause I'm not fryin'--
That's good! That's good. Yeah.
For my antebellum dish,
I have added some nutmeg, pepper, salt…
onions, bacon fat.
And this is parsley--
I mean parsnips and baby turnips.
So… turnips on and let it ride.
Everybody, come on over
and join us for a minute.
-Okay…
-How's everybody feelin' so far?
- Good. How are y'all doing?
- So far, pretty good.
- Smoky.
All right, you guys,
so because we're way, way back in time,
we want each of you
to show us, individually,
how good you can be
with the oldest way of cooking.
-Uh-oh.
-We want each one of you
to put a protein into the fire…
and you will serve that protein to us
at the end of your cookin' time.
Caveman.
-Cavewoman.
-Cavewoman.
-Mm-hm!
-This is not a team challenge,
and you'll be judged individually.
If your team loses the team challenge,
the teammate with the worst
individual mid-smoke challenge dish
will be eliminated.
Okay.
There are many pitfalls
cooking directly in the coals.
I do not want my meat covered in ashes.
We've assigned proteins to each of you
at random.
Sylvie, you've been assigned
sirloin strip.
Tina, filet mignon.
Rasheed…
turkey.
And, Ashley, you've been assigned chicken.
-All righty.
- So…
-you don't have a whole lot of time left.
- Get smoking! Go ahead.
-You gotta go.
- So we've got the pre-colony days,
antebellum,
all different sizes and cuts of meat,
all cooked in a different manner.
And then now another cut of meat
cooked in a different manner.
All done at the same time.
No one is happy
about this mid-smoke challenge at all.
-What temp is it?
-It's dropped. It's at 90.
Aah!
I've never done a chicken on an open fire.
Could be worse.
You coulda had turkey.
Coulda had turkey,
that'll dry out faster than the chicken.
I've never done anything on an open fire.
I'd rather have beef, I can tell you that.
Cooking directly on fire
with no protective grill
is one of the most difficult things
in barbecue.
We want to see them put the principles
they've learned here into practice.
It's gonna show who deserves
to make it into the final three
and who should go.
I don't want each one of us
to get sidetracked on our own thing
and not do good on our team thing.
If I wanna be wowing the judges,
I'm gonna have to give 'em a good chicken,
and that's hard to do on this,
uh, open flame, it really is.
Wish I had more time.
I wish a lot of things.
While you're diggin', can you tell
me if I need to do that squash,
'cause I'm workin' on our other side.
The squash is good. I know it looks bad…
-Okay…
-Remember, we're getting the meat inside.
-So the middle--
-Even the black… yellow ones?
If I'm trustin' you,
I'mma need you to trust me.
Nobody's mind
is in the right place right now.
-Yeah.
-Everybody's scared of bein' eliminated
and scared of failin'
in their own personal challenge.
That fear of failure
is creating real failure.
-And a little animosity.
- Uh-huh.
I'm preparing
the sirloin strip steak.
I'm cutting a couple of 'em real thin
and a couple of 'em thick…
so I can make sure
that I get the temp that I want on it
and the char that I want on it.
You're cookin' over real hot, high coals,
and it's a quick cook.
You don't want
to burn and char the outside…
without getting the inside cooked.
This was a whole tenderloin.
And this is the…
This part from here up
is the Chateaubriand cut.
I'm gonna leave a little extra on,
just to slice it and see how it tastes,
because I'm not sure about
the seasoning of this.
Because if you throw it right on the fire
and you use herbs or anything like that,
they're gonna burn up.
So I'm gonna marinate it in a lot
of red wine, 'cause Melissa likes wine.
She's said it every challenge,
and I'm listenin'.
I have to cook turkey directly on coals
and make it taste good
and keep it moist and flavorful
for the judges.
To cook directly on coals
doesn't take long when you're using beef,
but poultry is very difficult,
because of the safe temperatures
and if it's safe to eat,
so I've gotta really figure somethin' out.
Got somethin' in mind, but I need
some really hot coals to make it work.
So, uh, I'm usin' some oak and hickory.
Coming across something
I'm not familiar with… is amazing to me.
But I know fire
and I know the supplies we have,
so I think in my head,
"Okay, bed of coals. Let's make an oven."
I can fill cast iron with a brine liquid
that I put as close to the bird as I can.
I don't have a lot of time,
so I'm coverin' this, because…
I need…
as much…
heat around this bird
as I can possibly get.
So, uh, I'm gonna soak some burlap…
so that I can keep moisture inside
and steam that turkey.
The man done made
a convection smoker in the ground.
The rule was that the meat
had to sit directly on the coals.
We never said they couldn't use
other old-school items to cover their meat
and hold the moisture in.
I mean, he got vents on this thing, uh…
sacks, banana leaves.
I mean, the boy is bad.
I'm lookin' forward to tryin' that.
Rasheed's got creative over there.
I need to do the same thing.
I need to find somethin'
I could wrap this chicken up with
and keep some moisture in it.
Chicken usually takes me
an hour and a half
when I cook 'em whole… on my smoker.
So how am I gonna get it done in a hole
in the ground in an hour and a half?
Right now, I just gotta wrap the chicken
in banana leaves.
That's gonna give me
a little bit of a protective barrier.
I wanna put coals
just all the way around the chicken
so that that hole
has a little bit of heat comin' off of it
and it just basically roasts the chicken.
At least we didn't get beans.
I would've rather took my chance
with beans.
I feel like Rasheed knows
how his turkey is cookin'.
-I feel like Ash doesn't know how--
- Has no idea about his chicken.
- What his chicken's doin'.
-He can't check.
Then you mess up what is-- what actually
will be happening on the inside.
-So he has to cross his fingers and hope…
-Whew.
…it comes out the way he wants it to.
There's lots of pressure on us.
There's a lot of things
that are going on in our heads.
Time is tickin' away and…
we also have to be concerned
with the team challenge.
-One hour!
Do you hear that?
I don't wanna hear that,
but I hear that.
Oh, boy.
My chicken doesn't seem
like it's cookin' fast enough at all.
Uh, and that's somethin'
I'm a little worried about.
-Hey, Tina.
-Ms. Tina, how's it goin'?
Well, we've only got a little--
one little burn on the leg.
-What's up with that squash, Tina?
-Well, that's Rasheed's idea.
You know, since this gets peeled…
- Sure.
-…you won't get any ash.
The one time that I tried to cook a steak
on a straight coal…
uh, it did have ash.
I don't know how…
not to do that.
It's really not difficult
to cook a protein directly on fire.
They're over-thinking this.
You can take charcoal
that is black still, but heated…
and cook on that.
I mean, it's hot.
It doesn't have to be
a white piece of charcoal.
I mean, they're starin' at this fire
and these ashes
and thinkin',
"I gotta throw somethin' in that."
-Well…
- You know.
-I don't.
-If you just slow down a minute, you know.
I don't wanna take you away
-from what you're doin'.
-Okay.
-All right.
- Good luck.
-I wish y'all could give me a hand.
- Good luck.
Yeah, I need it!
They're so concerned about ash.
If you think about it,
when you cook on a charcoal grill,
-you're gonna get a little ash.
-Yeah.
You just don't realize it.
-Yeah.
-All those little black flakes on a steak
-are not always pepper.
-No, no.
-Thank you. Thank you.
-That's a little taste of the grill.
-So a little ash is okay.
-Yeah.
-I just don't want a mouthful of ash.
-Yeah, I don't want a crust of ash.
I'm nervous about puttin' my steak
right on here on the coals,
'cause I don't want ash on it.
Come on.
Done.
I just…
threw some filet mignons in the ashes,
is what I feel like I've done.
Aah!
- Right now, Ashley?
-I'mma get you some more coal.
And you want to try to get it
as hot as possible.
- Without ashing.
-Yeah.
- Just like that.
-Sixteen minutes!
115 degrees.
Not done yet. Put it back on.
-We got time.
-Let's do it.
-How's your turkey?
-It's not done yet.
That's too rare.
Too rare.
I'm a little bit worried,
because I see ash on it
and none of this is done enough.
Lord have mercy. This is--
We got a problem now.
The salmon isn't as done
as I thought it was going to be.
So I'm pickin' up little pieces
that are done.
You okay over there?
Um…
It's extremely difficult to cook poultry
over an open fire.
You're okay. Just… Confidence.
We can do this.
I feel like the poultry's gonna be
the mark of death for the losing team.
Yes, this is a team challenge.
And I want to be there for Ashley
when he's tryin' to get his chicken done.
But at the same time,
I have a lot on my plate.
I have a lot that I have to do,
and a lot I have to think about
in a very short period.
Very concerning on the…
poultry for our dinner this evening.
Uh, yeah!
I've cooked it before. I've cooked chicken
directly in the charcoal.
You know, I make a little--
have my charcoal bed.
I put two logs of wood on that and I let
the chicken sit on top of the wood.
And then as the wood burns,
I flip the chicken, you know?
Get some good flavor on that.
But you better hurry up and move it
before that wood catch on fire.
This is what's left of my chicken.
I had to take it out of the heat and,
I mean, it's covered in ash and soot.
Yeah, this… This is… I'm not even…
I wouldn't give that to my dog.
I didn't have time to wet the--
Ash-- Ashley, no.
-No.
Won't hear it.
This is gross. This is not done.
It's destroyed.
-I'm not turnin' that chicken in.
-Yes, you are.
-Is it done? What is it?
-It's-It's not done and it's-- it's--
What-- What is it at?
What is the temp on the temp--
on the chicken, Ashley?
-Temp it.
What is it?
I got 145 on one of my wings
on my chicken.
So I'm-- I'm not--
I'm not turnin' this in to the judges.
In addition to listening to my teammate…
stressing out over cooking his chicken…
and all these things are going on
at one time…
I'm gonna need some help
with this here, Ms. Sylvie,
-when you get a chance.
-Uh…
Just trying to pick through
and get the tender meat for a plate.
Feel it. Just feel it.
-Yeah.
-Whenever it feels tender, then it's good.
I have to make these…
last-minute decisions,
because that's gonna determine my fate.
I got it plated, but, I mean, it's--
It don't have to look pretty.
It's plated.
It's not a very full plate, Ms. Sylvie.
That's okay. Just get it
on the tray. Don't worry about it.
I made an executive decision.
That platter was-- It was way too big.
-So--
-Uh-- Aah! No!
-No?
-Leave it alone. Leave it alone!
Leave it alone.
Just leave it alone.
-Y'all, the heat is on officially.
-Uh, for… For real. Like, for real.
Like, she-- she barked at him a little bit
and I was like… "Ooh-hoo! Excuse me."
I don't wanna win because somebody
backed down and backed off.
I wanna win because I beat them.
- That's done. That's done.
- Yeah.
That's done.
You might even beat my-- my steak.
- You got it? Okay. Oh--
- Think I got it.
Done, that one.
-One minute, everybody.
-One minute left.
- This looks good, Ms. Sylvie.
Let's focus on what we can get
out of it. Wish I had more time.
Oh, hallelujah.
Ten, nine, eight…
seven, six, five, four…
three, two, one…
Show me the meats!
-Oh.
Not one person was excited
just now.
-Are you happy with it?
-As happy as I am with anything else here.
Holy cow, we've pulled it off.
I mean, my chicken got done
at the last second.
I was able to get somethin' on a plate
for the judges.
But there's only four of us left,
and unfortunately,
just like every other challenge,
somebody has to go home.
-Hello.
-All right y'all!
- How's it goin'?
- It is going amazingly.
-No roadkill today for y'all.
- Yes.
-Thank you so much. This looks wonderful.
-Yeah, this is awesome.
We'll be in the antebellum period
and fan ourselves.
Look at all
of the different things you've prepared…
throughout all those places in history.
This is amazing.
Ashley and Sylvie,
please tell us about your dishes.
To start with, our pre-colonial,
we have salmon which we stuffed with…
herbs in addition to slices of oranges
and then wrapped it in the banana leaf.
And we also have
a yellow and zucchini squash.
I thought the flavor of the squash
was fantastic.
I could really taste those
roasted flavors, but it wasn't overcooked.
I thought the texture of the salmon
and the smoke on the salmon
were pretty damn good, but I just thought
it just lacked some seasonin'.
Okay.
Tina and Rasheed,
why don't you take us back to
the beginning with your pre-colonization?
Our pre-colonization dish
is some smoked salmon
wrapped in banana leaves,
slowly smoked over some hickory coals,
served with mashed "kombucha" squash.
The squash, when I seen that thing,
it looked like a burnt-up pumpkin to me.
-You know?
-I do taste the fire to this.
I don't taste a lot of extra seasoning
and, for me, it just doesn't taste right.
It's overcooked.
But the flavor on your salmon is…
one of the best flavors I've ever had.
It's moist.
The flavors that you used, man,
the fruits, and the herbs, and the spice,
I mean,
I can actually still taste smoke in it.
It's like you knew that smoke
was gonna get inside that banana leaf
and just float around like a tunnel
and just suffocate it
for all that cookin' time.
I thought it was excellent.
Moving to the antebellum period.
We did the goat and then Rasheed
made a brush out of herbs,
and we rendered bacon down
to brush the goat with.
And the side with that was,
we did mushrooms,
parsnips and baby turnips.
The goat was tender
and the bark has such a great flavor
of spices versus herbs.
And they meld very well together.
Thank you.
The mushrooms with the bacon,
that is so damn good.
You know I'm from Mississippi.
If you use lard,
it's gonna taste good,
so I can appreciate that.
Fantastic job.
-Thank you.
-Thank you.
Ashley and Sylvie,
how about your antebellum dish?
For our antebellum dish,
we did mutton shoulder,
then we finished it off with, uh, onions
and carrots in a, uh, braise, basically,
and then we did, uh, button mushrooms
with a little bit of butter and herbs.
-Your mutton and your button.
-Muttons and-- Muttons and buttons!
-That's what we named it.
I thought that was the best mutton
that I have ever eaten in my life.
Oh!
It's really lean, but I can still see
the drippings hitting the fire
and comin' back up and kissin' the meat,
and I could taste that.
I thought your choice
of button mushrooms and carrots
I thought those was pretty good.
But my mutton just lacked
a little seasonin' for my taste.
And now it's time to judge
your mid-smoke challenge proteins.
If your team loses the team challenge,
this dish alone will determine your fate.
Rasheed, what did you make
for your mid-smoke challenge?
I was assigned, uh, turkey.
So I actually stuffed smoked bacon
underneath the skin of the turkey,
so that, as it cooked, that heat
would help render down the fats
and keep the breast moist.
Then I actually wrapped it with
soaked banana leaves and a burlap sack.
-Rasheed.
-Yes, sir?
I thought it was a very difficult meat
that we gave you.
And then when I heard how you did it with
the primitive convection oven smoker…
that was pretty incredible, man.
And you know it's good if I don't know
if I got white meat or dark meat.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Tina, tell us what you made
for your mid-smoke challenge.
I had a beef tenderloin,
so I cut out the best part of it,
right behind the head of it
and I made a quick horseradish sauce.
Tina, your chateaubriand tenderloin…
-Yes?
-…that you was so worried about…
it was pretty damn good.
-Oh, good!
-It was tender.
It melted in my mouth.
The flavors on it was on point.
- Your chateaubriand…
While it did have
some charred pieces on the outside,
it was wonderfully flavored.
It was nice and tender.
So, Sylvie,
tell us about your individual protein.
My individual protein
is a sirloin strip loin.
I seasoned it with a mixture
of steak-seasoning type, uh, spices
and then I basted it with butter
and rosemary.
-Sylvie.
-Yeah?
I taste the fire, I taste the beef
and I taste seasoning.
-Okay.
-What more could you want?
The cook on it just barely made the cut…
-…'cause it was almost under,
but I think you just got it by.
Good job on that steak.
Thank you very much.
All right, Ashley,
-what did you do for your protein?
- I had chicken.
Uh, chicken is hard to do on an open fire.
It'll burn.
So I used a little bit
of the same method as Rasheed.
I didn't quite build
a convection oven smoker or anything.
I was a little worried
about that chicken. Uh…
That's the first time
I've ever done anything like that,
which has been the case
the whole time I've been here,
-is doing things that I've never done!
-Your chicken's nice and moist.
-Thank you.
It has a good flavor to it. The seasoning
could have been just a little bit more.
I wanted to throw some sauce on there,
but I ran out of time.
But I would have been
as nervous as you were,
being the first time just cookin'
some chicken on a open flame like that.
-Okay.
-Good job, both of you.
-Thank you.
-Thank you.
We're goin' up against Rasheed and Tina.
They've both won challenges.
I'm a little scared of that, because…
that could be trouble
for me and Ms. Sylvie.
Today, we asked each team
to barbecue one protein and one side,
using equipment and the styles
from two different barbecue time periods.
The team that's on top tonight
really put theirselves back in that time.
And that team is…
Rasheed and Tina.
-Congratulations. Please stand.
- Good job, guys.
Oh!
You're both Type A cooks.
I was worried about you.
You came together as a team.
You two really created a meal that was
very complimentary of both your styles.
-I'm proud of you.
- Thank you.
Thank y'all so much.
We're just really flattered.
-We are. Truly are.
-With each other, too.
I'm definitely proud that, despite
all the numerous challenges and pitfalls,
we came together as a team and we provided
the best food that we could.
Unfortunately, that means,
Sylvie and Ashley,
your plates fell a little short
for the judges.
Please stand.
This is the hardest part…
because one of you
will have to go home today.
Sylvie and Ashley,
I mean, it was very, very close.
Both of you are incredible.
Most of your dishes was right there.
I mean, if it was up to me,
it would have been a tie tonight.
Today really came down
to your mid-smoke challenge
and it was so close.
Ashley, your chicken
was perfectly cooked…
but just a little under-seasoned.
And, Sylvie,
your beef was just a little under,
but your flavor was amazing.
You know, this one is so tough.
I don't know how you guys feel,
but I'mma stand up for this,
'cause I just feel like we all are equal
and I have so much respect
for both of you.
I'm sorry…
Ashley…
you cooked our least favorite dish today,
and you're goin' home.
-But let me talk to you.
-You are incredible, okay?
-Thank you.
-Big Worm is proud as hell, okay?
-Thank you.
Everybody got so much respect for you.
-I appreciate it.
-You keep doin' what you doin', okay?
-Yes, sir.
-I am a big, big fan, okay?
-Thank you.
-All right.
All right, Ashley.
I really wanted
to win this competition for Big Worm.
And, uh… I fell just a little bit short.
And, uh… that's okay, because…
at the end of the day, I'm still a winner.
-Whew! It was a good time, guys.
- Mm!
Love you, brother.
It's bittersweet, goin' home.
But I'm proud of myself
for what I've done.
Uh, I've come on here
and I've faced adversity.
I've faced things that…
I've never done in my life before…
and I rose above it,
finished in the top half.
And I know that, somewhere,
Big Worm's lookin' down
and he's smilin' and, uh, he's happy.
-To Ashley and Big Worm!
-Ashley and Big Worm!
Cheers!
For our cookers' next challenge,
we'll be exploring mouth-watering
international barbecue delights.
-Yay. I haven't been there.
-I bet you--
-Have you been there?
-No.