Accepted under the mentorship of your idol and the world's hottest chef Gordon Ramsay, you must prove your skill and determination through competing in Hell's Kitchen- A month long cooking contest versus fifteen other fierce contestants and difficul...
Gordon enters the kitchen and heads up the pass, a perfectly non-expressive look on his face as he glances over the plates.
"Bella, please tell me what you used to make your dish," he asks as she moves her plate in front of him.
"I used crab meat in a trout purée laid on top of tomato chutney with lemon vinaigrette and lobster reduction sauce over the top. There are also basil and marjoram herbs on top," she says as Gordon tastes her ravioli.
"Mmh, good. Taylor, you're next." He gestures for Taylor to bring her plate forward while Bella nervously scoots to the side.
"Hey Chef, I used lobster meat in a salmon purée in my raviolis. They're resting on tomato chutney with lemon and lobster sauces, topped with basil and sorrel." She grins as Gordon takes a bite of her food.
Huh, that sounds exactly like mine! Taylor and I must have been on the same brainwave as we prepared our food. I smile slightly at the thought.
"Well cooked," Gordon compliments. His face is stoic, betraying no emotion. "Abel, you're next."
"What I've prepared for you today is lobster meat and trout purée stuffed ravioli over tomato chutney with lobster reduction and lemon vinaigrette sauces. The raviolis have basil and sorrel micro-herbs on top," he presents his dish smoothly. I look over at the plate, admiring how everything looks to be masterfully placed just so. Even his herbs are standing up tall on top of the ravioli. And I thought I was going to be the one showing off.
"Delicious, go on back in line. Mary, you're next." Gordon hands Abel his plate as Red sets her plate in front of him.
"I, uh. I used crab meat and salmon purée. Like everyone else, I made tomato chutney and I used lemon vinaigrette and crab reduction sauces over the top, along with micro sorrel and basil," she finishes, watching intently as Gordon cuts into her ravioli and brings it to his mouth.
"A little under-cooked. Raviolis require ninety seconds in the pot, yeah?" Gordon informs her.
"Oh, yes, Chef," she mumbles, taking her plate back from him. She winces as the plate touches her fingers. Apparently, the burning water hit more than her wrist.
"(Y/N), please?" Gordon asks, his deep blue eyes locking onto mine. I swallow the lump in my throat before bringing up my ravioli.
"Thank you, describe what you made?" He cuts into the ravioli, spearing the bite on his fork.
"For the inside of the ravioli, I used lobster meat with a salmon purée. On top, I put lemon vinaigrette, basil, and sorrel. They're on tomato chutney. I had made lobster reduction, but it overcooked and I didn't want to ruin the flavor of the dish by putting it on." I sigh.
"A shame, it looks and tastes lovely." Gordon hands me my ravioli, his fingers under the plate lightly brushing against mine as I take it from him.
"Now, let's see who got the dish right, yeah?" He rubs his hands together.
"The meat is the number one ingredient in the dish, and you can't possibly win without having gotten it correct. The filling for the inside of the ravioli was..." He pauses. Tension blankets us as we wait for him to speak.
"Lobster. Sorry Mary and Bella, but you're out of the running." Gordon shrugs as Bella whines.
"Now, for the purée. I have to say I'm surprised about this one. The pink fish I used for the inside of the ravioli was in fact..." he glances down the chef lineup, "salmon. Which means Abel is out. Sorry, my good man. Should have brought up your other plate."
His other plate? Of course, Abel would go so far as to make two different plates when he wasn't absolutely sure about the filling. Sure enough, there is a second beautiful plate of ravioli sitting at Abel's station, likely made exactly how Gordon made his dish.
Abel sighs, bowing his head.
"Everyone was right about the tomato chutney and the lemon vinaigrette. As for the herbs, they were basil and sorrel," Gordon says matter-of-factly. "As far as presentation, only Abel and Taylor remembered to cut the pasta properly into what I like to call eyeball shapes, which involves trimming the extra pasta off the sides. But that isn't what I'll be judging the final dishes on."
"Taylor, (Y/N), you both were correct about the lobster reduction sauce, but in this case, Taylor was the only one with the sauce actually on her ravioli, which means Taylor is the winner of this challenge!" Gordon claps his hands and Taylor beams at him, then turns the same grin to me. I smile in return– if anyone won aside from Abel and me, I'm glad it's my best friend.
"Now, Taylor. While the others are here shelling thousands of pistachios and hand-churning ice cream, you'll be headed to Sur La Table for to buy yourself anything your heart desires before returning in time for dinner service tonight. But of course, you're welcome to bring a friend. Who would you like to take with you?" Gordon asks, tilting his head.
"I'd like to take..." Taylor purses her lips, tapping her foot.
I can't help the selfish part of me that holds out hope that she'll pick me. I'd love to go shopping at a fancy, high end cooking store.
"I think Red's hand needs a break. I'd like to take her with me." She smiles, but it's only a half-smile this time as her hazel eyes dart to mine apologetically.
I nod. It makes sense, Red might not have been much use for the punishment anyways, considering her fingers are burned as well, though not as severely as her wrist. I look over at the bandage that covers half her arm. Poor Red.
"Here is a thousand dollars to split between you, enjoy yourselves! Your limo awaits, ladies." Gordon hands over a stack of hundred dollar bills to Taylor, whose eyes light up.
"Thanks so much, Chef." She bounces in place, nudging Red's shoulder as she steps forward next to Tay.
"Thank you for taking me, Taylor," Red says bashfully as Tay shoves half the bills into Red's un-burnt hand.
"No problemo amigo, let's get going!" Taylor shoots me one last remorseful look before taking Red's arm and skipping towards the exit.
"Alright, you three," Gordon turns to address Bella, Abel, and me. "Today will be a long day. You'll need to shell a couple thousand pistachios, then hand-churn pistachio ice cream for tonight's dessert. Of course, after all of that, you'll need to prep the kitchens for tonight's dinner service. Be sure to have everything done on time because tonight there will be an elimination. Got it?"
"Yes, Chef!" we respond.
"Then chop chop, get to it!" He claps again before turning on his heel and heading towards his office.
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