Top Chef ™
Top Chef ™ Challenge Type:
Elimination
Top Chef - Chef Name:
Season:
Week:
Lamb with Plum Salsa and Hazelnut Pipian

Pauila: "I have western region. I love mushrooms. Very Appalachian. So I'm going to do mushrooms for sure. I'm from Ecuador, but I currently live in Lexington, Kentucky, and I think grilled lamb with mushrooms will be the perfect way to represent two amazing places."
Paula "Look at these mushrooms. I'm gonna start my tatemado. I need to do a higher sear on my vegetables for my mole. What's the quickest you can make a mole? I have two hours and it takes way more than that, but I'm going to do an interpretation of it with mushrooms as a base. Mole takes hours, but I need to show who I am through my dish."
Presenting to the judges: "I have a grilled lamb with plum salsa, matcha mushroom mole, and a hazelnut pipian. A little bit of pickled mushrooms as well."
Judges: "Paula's dish, what did you think? Her interpretation of mole lacked a lot of spice. The hazelnut, I really enjoyed the flavor coming from that. And my lamb was severely undercooked. Undercooked? Oh, yeah. Interesting. Cause mine is, like, quite over. It's a lot of different cooks."