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« The queen of happy hour | Main | The next generation » Tuesday, January 9, 2007Seven deadly sins Almost a week later and I'm still annoyed by the last episode of "Top Chef." Give these contestants a creative, intriguing challenge and they'll almost always turn out something boring. For those who missed the episode, one of the challenges was to create a dish that corresponded to one of the seven deadly sins. Sam's spicy shrimp ceviche with chili pepper popcorn was great for wrath. But bouillabaisse for greed, soup for sloth, etc.? I thought the dishes showed a real lack of imagination. (And I thought that Marcel's cherry-tart take on lust was nowhere near as lame as those on the show said it was. I won't even go into the juvenile pig-piling on Marcel by the other bullies, er, I mean contestants.) Does someone have to win? At this point, I'm not really rooting for anyone. (Though Marcel now has serious underdog appeal. And Elia can be my BFF if she wants. But Sam? Anger not becoming on you.) I am rooting for whoever came up with the seven deadly sins challenge, though. It was very inventive. Of course, I immediately started thinking about what I would have made. For lust, an amuse of one Wellfleet oyster, served with pomegranate gelee alongside a fingerbowl of rosewater with rose petals floating in it. Oysters are aphrodisiacs, and a single taste of something awakens the appetite. Also, after you swallow them, the mollusks (at least apocryphally) stay alive in your stomach for a while, which kind of works as a metaphor for lust, no? For sloth, lazy man's lobster: claw and tail meat removed from the shell and made into a lobster salad with a sherry vinaigrette, served alongside de-membraned grapefruit segments and sprinkled with chopped pistachios (no annoying shells). On the side, sliced steamed artichoke hearts drizzled with butter, salt, and pepper. For gluttony, duck every way: roasted, confited, rilletted... Served with potatoes Dauphinoise, a dollop of pommes Robuchon, and a latke. No green vegetables on this plate. Some creme fraiche and caviar for the latke, though. For pride, Gruyere souffles. Because you're proud when they rise, and pride goeth before the inevitable fall (of your souffles). For greed, a trio of cakes served with a trio of ice creams: flourless chocolate cake with cinnamon ice cream, almond financiere with coffee gelato, and lemon poundcake with lemon thyme-buttermilk sorbet. So you can have your cake and eat it, too. What would you have made? Posted by Devra First at 01:17 PM
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