Original subtitles

Ah, summer. It's my favorite time of the year.

It's all about soaking in the sunshine,

hanging with friends and family...

Hey, ryder, take it easy!

But the best part is grilling that great summer grub.

But before any food hits the grill,

it all starts right here, in the market.

This is where the fun begins.

So I've invited eight "triple g" winners,

each with their own mad summer style,

to compete in an epic five week tournament.

Who will go down in flames

and who will smoke the competition

and win the $25,000 grand prize?

You guys feeling the heat?

Tonight I'm sending our five remaining chefs

on a culinary summer vacation...

-Oh, yeah. -Wow.

Oh, my gosh.

...And they have no idea where they're going.

Nope. [ chuckles ]

guy: This should be some of the best food of the competition.

Part four of our "summer grillin' games"

starts now on "triple g."

I ain't going home.

♪♪

alright, let's meet our five fierce chefs.

[ cheering ]

that's all fake. That's faked enthusiasm.

That's scared. That's worried. Go get them.

Well, chefs, you've been working the grill

and the grocery games for the past three weeks.

There were eight. Now there's five.

So I've decided to give you a little change of pace.

I want you to take your taste buds on a summer vacation

and I want you to make the judges...

A destination dinner.

So I want you to forget about the grocery carts.

Go ahead and step in front of those carts.

You're not going to need those silly carts.

What?

All you're going to need is some suitcases.

Have you ever went on vacation? You been on vacation?

Vacation? Vacation? Vacation?

So you go on vacation, what happens?

Airline loses your luggage.

You're about to relive that nightmare.

This is "suitcase search."

I've scattered some suitcases around flavortown market,

and they're filled with key food items

from the country displayed on the luggage tag.

Inside you'll find three key ingredients

from that country's origin.

Use the suitcase and shop for whatever else you need

to make your destination dinner,

but you must use the three ingredients

that are inside the suitcase.

It's first come, first steal.

-Oh, my gosh. -They're all over the store.

-Oh my gosh. -Oh, yeah. And you know what?

To make things easy because we only have 30 minutes,

you can only shop one time.

[ groans ]

so you have 30 minutes to find your suitcase, shop,

prepare and plate your destination dinner.

So my son ryder and I have these talks about how we do

the three, two, one, go,

and he always says...

They were on it. They were on it.

I've never seen that.

They didn't fall for that at all.

Destination dinner is the first dinner

you want to get at your destination spot.

So I've got to find something that's in my wheelhouse.

Cuba?

Nope. [ laughs ]

I'm not taking this. It's not my strong suit.

I'm sorry.

Thailand. Ooh.

Heck, yeah. I'm taking this.

I've been to thailand twice.

Fish sauce, curry paste and coconut.

You know what I'm making.

For my destination dinner,

I immediately think tom yum.

It's seafood noodle soup.

When you go to thailand,

you want something seafoody with a little bit of spice,

and coconut makes it super summery.

I'm so close to the finale.

I can taste it.

♪♪

this is week four.

I'm a little concerned that the challenges,

they're gonna be even harder.

Oh, look at luigi!

Luigi just got Italy.

Italy. You can't make this up.

You got red wine, capers, and sardines.

This is a dream come true.

It is a dream come true.

I'm happy, and the judges should be happy,

because that guy right there can cook

and especially when he's cooking in his home country.

I'm making a destination dinner for Italy --

spaghetti in a red wine sauce

with sardines and capers, grilled quail.

Italian summer food is just very simple food.

Gonna use few ingredients that we have

and then enjoy the wine and life.

I'm excited. I want to go on vacation.

The first suitcase that I see is mexico city.

Corn tortillas, avocado, and nopales,

which is pickled cactus.

Mexican cuisine, there's lots of big, bold,

spice flavors, as well as a focus on seasonal produce,

which is right up my alley.

-Chef, what did you get? -Mexico city.

What are you thinking? Quick pork carnitas.

The best thing to get you the carnitas

is gonna be that shoulder. My man. Thank you.

I'm gonna make a pork carnitas tostada,

an avocado crème fraîche,

and a bright and acidic cabbage slaw.

Okay. Cilantro.

So, I'm a little bit nervous,

because going into this challenge,

I know that we need to do extremely well

in order to make it to the finale.

Alright.

I'm kind of like

the really helpful culinary tsa.

Uh-oh.

Last week, I was at the bottom,

so now it's time to turn up the heat.

Morocco.

Never been to morocco, but I am familiar

with cooking moroccan food.

Lamb, couscous, preserved lemons. Perfect.

Moroccan cooking is all about hearty flavors, bright colors.

-What'd you get, q matisse'? -I got morocco. I got some lamb.

Oh, you love that. Yeah. That's my stuff right there.

So, for my destination dinner,

I'm making moroccan grilled harissa lamb chops.

When it's summer, I love to marinate my lamb,

put it on the grill.

What do we got?

So I'm grabbing pomegranate molasses

'cause it's gonna pair really well

with my preserved lemons.

♪♪

laura: So, I take off running, trying to look for the suitcase,

and as I'm passing the other chefs, they all have one,

so I know there's only one left and I need to find it.

Cuba!

Aha. I've never been to cuba.

I don't really eat cuban food.

There's plantains, ham, guava paste.

They do scream cuban food.

Even though I don't know what cuban food is,

I imagine that they're screaming it

and telling me what to make.

"laura, make tostones."

so I'm making guava caramelized pork and black bean tostones.

There's only one of us that's gonna be safe and win $5,000,

and I'm sure hoping that it's gonna be me.

Is this how you shop at home

when you're on your way to do a trip? Absolutely.

You just drag the suitcase around your house?

-I do. -And start shoving things in it?

I throw my kids in there first, though.

My bag is packed. I'm ready to hit cuba.

Beep, beep.

So, here to discuss our destination dinners

is our panel of worldly judges.

Over here, international spice expert

and two-time "triple g" winner, the one and only aarti sequeira.

Cookbook author who has won countless competitions

with his world fusion flare, the wild card...

Oh, that's me. ...Justin warner.

I thought that was beau. Nice shirt.

And executive chef

at an internationally acclaimed resort,

home of nirvana, just ask for beaumac,

chef beau macmillan. Yeah.

The reality of this is they're seasoned.

They're hardened.

They want it. They can smell it.

The carrot at the end of the rope

is this 25,000 bucks and the title,

but this is gonna be a big hurdle right now

because everybody is primed.

24 minutes!

♪ I'm gonna make a summer tom yum, yummy yum yum ♪

oh, wait. Is that okay? I karaoke every Sunday.

So, the base of this dish is the soup --

red curry paste, fish sauce, and sugar.

We have a coco jack back there.

You got it. Never mind.

She don't need no stinking contraption. Nice.

Young coconut flesh are sweet and plump

and its juices are just so amazing on a hot summer day.

I want my soup to have these four notes --

sweet, sour, spicy, delicious.

Pierluigi: Guy, shall I taste the wine before I use it?

I think you should taste that wine.

I packed it myself, buddy.

That's good. Oh, yeah.

Pierluigi: I'm making spaghetti in a red wine sauce

with sardines and capers and grilled quail.

Luigi just dropped his pasta. Why'd he do that?

Hey, chef, why are you cooking pasta with 22 minutes?

I'm just precooking.

You precook it, you let them sit,

and then put it back for the last two, three minutes,

and it's gonna be perfect al dente.

Blood orange. They are from sicily.

I love pairing blood oranges with poultry.

I'm gonna marinate the quail

in the blood oranges and the lemon,

but then put the glug, glug, glug, glug, the chianti

on the the quail.

♪♪

nick, where you going on vacation?

I'm going to mexico city.

Mexico.

Pork carnitas tostada.

It's important to get this pork seasoned early

so that it kind of mimics a cure.

Cumin, paprika, fresh cilantro.

We need to get this tasting latin, baby.

Aarti: That's very ambitious for nick to try to cook carnitas.

It ain't carnitas unless it falls apart.

Pork carnitas generally take two, three, even four hours,

up to all day,

so I need to develop flavor in other ways.

Now I'm gonna cut it up a little bit smaller,

and I'm gonna confit it in a pan.

Cooking it low and slow will break down the muscle,

making it tender and delicious.

So, q, we got lamb, we got couscous, harissa.

What's the game plan? I'm gonna grill the lamb.

I'm gonna do a little pomegranate molasses

on top of it.

Glad you're not trying to cook that rack full.

I've seen people come in on the competition,

try to cook that rack full.

I do not care what magic oven you have,

it ain't gonna work.

So I rub my lamb with harissa.

It's used in moroccan cooking all the time.

So, in harissa, you have a lot of spice and flavor

that opens up gamey meats like lamb.

Want to come help me make my dish?

No. Ow.

I know, huh? [ laughs ]

I could use a hand. Heard that.

I got cuba, so I'm making guava caramelized pork

and black bean tostones.

Laura got the cuban suitcase.

She's got sliced ham, plantains, and guava paste.

What do you do with that?

Laura: The guava paste, it is the most compact guava flavor

that I could have imagined.

It's really nice and bright and very summery,

and hopefully that will slowly cook down

and caramelize all together,

giving, like, a sweet, crunchy kind of texture to my pork.

So, I know I have to use this processed ham.

So I'm gonna throw it in my ground pork,

where I think it's gonna match perfectly.

I've never deep-fried ham before.

Might make a nice crispy garnish for the top.

We're in the fourth week, and everybody is tuned

and primed and ready to go.

This should be some of the best food of the competition.

[ cart rattles, register dings ]

♪♪

guy: 13 1/2. 13.

The competition was eight chefs.

We're down to five.

We packed bags for them today,

gave them all these different countries.

It is gonna come down to the wire.

Emily: We've gone from eight to five in the "summer grillin' games."

this is unbelievable. I'm still in the remaining five.

So, my soup's going.

I soak my noodles

because you have to let them hydrate before cooking them.

Because it's summer and I really wanted to get across

that we're on a beach in thailand,

I'm gonna grill my seafood.

Yee-haw!

I'm nervous that emily's scallops are going to be bitter

and tough because she grilled them.

♪♪

what do you got, chef? Pasta.

Is that the pasta dance? Yeah, the pasta.

I've got spaghetti with capers, sardines...

Sardines don't scare you at all?

No, I love them. You love sardines.

Pierluigi: I start making the sauce, sardines, capers.

I'm gonna make, like, a rosemary butter.

Red wine and butter is a nice combination.

I'm gonna just pour the red wine in the sauce.

Red wine is gonna pretty much become a sauce.

How are your quails looking, gigi?

Absolutely fantastic.

Summertime in tuscany, we do grill a lot of quails.

They're a little bird, but they are packed of flavors.

This is so much fun.

It's the first time in my life

I really had to face such a great competition.

I could very likely be on my fourth week.

♪♪

justin: Nick has avocado, corn tortillas,

and then kind of the whammy of that suitcase

is the nopales, right?

So, these are the leaves of the prickly pear cactus,

and he has the jarred version, which has a very distinct --

and by distinct I, of course, mean mucilaginous -- texture.

[ laughs ]

slimy, people. He means slimy.

Nick: The pickling liquid that the nopales is sitting in

is absolutely delicious.

It adds a little bit of heat and a good punch of acid.

I want to make a creamy element to this tostada.

Avocado, cactus, a little bit of sour cream.

I use avocado throughout the year,

especially in the summertime,

and this dish needs to focus on summer.

The salad component of the tostada is so important

because it's bright, acidic,

and when they're cooking in mexico,

they're gonna cook with a lot of colors,

a lot of flavors, a lot of acidity.

So we're in the penultimate episode

of this summer championship,

and one of these dishes is going to win $5,000

and immunity from having to cook for the rest of the day.

This is just like flying in coach.

There is no wiggle room.

Yes. For me especially.

[ laughs ] that's very good.

♪♪

q matisse': Coming in.

So, I have my lamb chops in the oven.

I'm working on my warm chickpea salad.

I'm gonna use the lamb fat

and add my chickpeas to give it more flavor.

I sauteed some swiss chard, shallots, tomatoes,

and then I'm gonna add my chickpeas

that have been cooking in that lamb fat.

Couscous, it's really light,

and it takes on the flavor of everything you have.

This is my house right here.

So I added some of that preserved lemon juice

to give it a nice, fresh, summer feel.

Mango chutney is gonna go really well with the harissa

and the pomegranate molasses with the preserved lemons.

A lot of pressure on this one.

I got best dish last week. I need to take that trophy home.

I know that if I'm making tostones,

they have to be perfect,

because a bad tostone is a bad tostone.

How we feeling, chef? I'm good.

Good. I think I'm in a good place.

What is in this dinner, this destination?

-I've never been to cuba. -You've never been to cuba?

No. It's fantastic.

I feel like I'm cooking blind.

I don't know much about this cuisine,

but I do know how to be creative.

I'm gonna go ahead and start working on this vinegary slaw.

Cabbage, red onion, cilantro, red wine vinegar.

I'm throwing some red bell peppers on the flame.

I want to get a nice char on them.

I think a nice roasted flavor

will go really, really nice in my cabbage slaw.

My plantains, they are beautiful.

They are crispy and golden brown.

They're looking at me like, "I'm cuban.

You're gonna win." [ laughs ]

4 1/2!

Emily: I check on my shrimp and my scallops,

and I'm a little bit concerned.

I wanted to get that sear,

but I don't want it charred and bitter.

I put my noodles in, my soup,

then I place my plump scallops and shrimp right on top.

Pierluigi: I put the salad, plate the pasta.

Char, the black line on top of the quails,

is because of the marination.

I just hope they're not overcooked.

♪♪

first thing I do is I grab my corn tortillas,

then I smear the avocado crème fraîche

right over the bottom layer.

Time to add my marinated pork carnitas meat.

The bright and acidic slaw goes right on top of the pork.

Why you covering up all that beauty?

Because I got to garnish the top still.

-Okay, okay. -I'm not finished.

Nick: Then I smear even more of the avocado crème fraîche

over the top layer.

Just keep adding layers of flavor.

♪♪

guy: Two minutes!

Q matisse': Two minutes heard.

I add my swiss chard and chickpea salad.

Beautiful. Where's that lamb?

It's coming out.

Looks beautiful.

I drizzle my harissa pomegranate sauce all over the lamb.

Come on, baby, this is what I do right here.

Laura: Do the ring mold of rice, then I throw the tostones down.

I'm shaking. Do not try this at home.

A little bean puree on top.

A little cabbage slaw to top it off for something fresh.

Guava caramelized pork.

Cutting it close.

Guy: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Chefs, that's it. Stop working.

[ cheers and applause ]

not going home.

Thank you, guys.

That was to the wire right there.

Yeah, that was pretty -- to the wire.

Alright, chefs.

Let's see whose destination dinner

is destined for greatness.

Let's take it to the judges. Right this way.

[ cart rattles, register dings ]

[ cart rattles, register dings ]

guy: Alright, judges, this is game 1

of this week's "summer grillin' games,"

and it was the never played before suitcase search.

First up, chef laura, you got cuba.

What'd you make us?

In my suitcase, I had guava paste,

ham lunch meat, and plantains, so I did tostones for you.

I did a little bit of guava caramelized pork and ham

over a little bit of black bean puree,

did a little bit of vinegary cabbage slaw.

I took some extra ham and kind of deep fried it

for a little bit of texture.

♪♪

chef laura, the tostones, you demonstrated great skill.

They're textbook, they're perfect.

You've got these ham threads,

and then you've got this crumbly pork on here,

and I think those little ham frizzles or threads was great.

What was that again? The ham what?

Ham frizzles? The frizzles.

Are you rapping out the ham frizzles now?

Yeah. Ham frizzles.

I love the balance of the sweetness

and the heat on that ground pork. Thank you.

Using that guava there to sort of mimic some of the sweetness

that you find in the plantain was a really smart play.

I really loved that.

The one thing I just wish I just had a little more of

with the dish is acid.

Kind of balance it out.

But for a 30-minute round destination dish,

this thing's legit.

Very, very tasty. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Guy: Thank you very much, judges.

Up next, from mexico, chef nick.

So, I had avocado, corn tortillas,

and pickled cactus.

So I did a version of a pork carnitas tostada

with a little bit of avocado crème fraîche,

and I made a cabbage slaw with pickled cactus.

And on top is a marinated tomato and the crunchy tortilla.

♪♪

you been to mexico city?

No, absolutely not. Been to mexico?

I've been to california. Oh, by the way, I'm sorry.

I don't even know why I'm asking nick this.

Nick's first flight he took was when he flew here

to compete the first time on "triple g."

it's the only time I fly is to come to flavortown.

Yeah. Flavortown airlines.

This is your captain speaking.

Nick, it is a very bright and vibrant dish,

and so in terms of destination dinner,

I'm there in mexico city.

You really took the "nope" out of the nopales.

They don't have that slimy consistency.

The stand-out star to me is the little avocado puree.

You don't have too many ingredients,

but the ingredients that you do have in this dish

kind of come together harmoniously.

Aarti: It's picture perfect. You've got all the colors.

You've got all the flavors.

It needs some earthiness,

and that earthiness would come from, like, a black bean puree.

[ imitating aarti ] earthiness.

[ american accent ] earthy. [ nasally ] earthy!

[ imitates valley girl ] some earthy --

it needed some earthiness,

so if you'd used some canned beans,

that really would have done it.

Right.

[ laughter ]

from india to the san fernando valley.

[ normal voice ] that's the only american accent I can do.

Wow.

Alright. Up next, chef gigi from Italy.

What? You got Italy?

I got italia.

I'm gonna have a classic countryside tuscan dinner.

I have red wine, I have canned sardines and capers,

so I made spaghetti

with red wine chianti sauce with sardine and capers.

And then I had grilled quail,

with just a little bit of dandelion and baby arugula,

nothing to be fancy about.

♪♪

this is definitely -- it feels like a classic italian dinner

in the tuscan countryside, and thank you so much for that.

We were all nervous about your pasta, but I said,

"if this man doesn't know how to make pasta,

then I'm in trouble, 'cause I've been making it wrong."

it's cooked perfectly,

just the perfect amount of bite, so well done.

The marinade on the quail, it's phenomenal.

Some of these ingredients, the capers,

the chianti sauce, bring things together very, very well,

but I feel like I was almost eating two separate dishes here.

I was eating a pasta dish,

and then I was eating a quail dish.

I could have, on the right side,

seen the sardine broken down a little bit more,

simply providing itself as a flavor to the pasta

as opposed to a protein of the pasta.

The pasta is cooked nicely.

Thank you. Thank you.

Up next, chef q matisse'. Morocco.

What do you got for us, boss?

I had couscous, lamb, preserved lemons.

The lamb, I marinated in harissa and grilled it.

I have some sauteed chickpea, shallots, and swiss chard,

and I did a pomegranate molasses sauce

that I put on top.

♪♪

q, it's "moroccing" my world.

What I like most about this

is that you left that fat on the lamb.

Didn't trim that off, and that's providing

this sort of slipperiness

that just keeps me coming back for more.

The stewed chickpeas with the swiss chard

gives me sort of tagine vibes,

and that is very classic in moroccan cooking,

that you have a stew that you put over the couscous

and you kind of just eat that.

On the side, however, there's a glaze.

It's a little aggressive.

I believe it's the preserved lemons.

Thank you, chef. Guy: Thank you very much, q.

From thailand, chef em.

The suitcase that I got presented me

with a young coconut, fish sauce, and red curry paste,

so I immediately thought,

"I'm gonna make something I really like -- noodles."

so coconut tom yum noodles with grilled seafood.

What's in your sauce?

Red curry paste, coconut cream

because I think that red paste is very, very strong,

seafood stock, and fish sauce.

♪♪

emily, this is like thai heat.

When I go to a thai restaurant, they're like,

"oh, do you want it spicy or thai spicy?"

it's thai spicy. It's making me sweat.

There is not an ounce of flavor lacking in this dish.

It really comes up and kind of hits you

with an uppercut right in the mouth.

Very hard, actually, with these rice noodles

because they can go

just by one second too long, and they're perfect.

In the words of rapper o.T. Genasis,

I'm in love with the coco.

[ laughs ] the coconut provides a marvelous foil --

hang on a second. Let me --

I just want to pick up what you just dropped.

There you go.

Thank you, guy. Very nice.

The coconut, it's working very nicely as a textural foil.

The grilling aspect I think might have

gotten away from you a little bit.

Your scallops and your shrimp were a little too bitter,

and that kind of takes over.

Thank you, chef.

That was a tough competition.

You took us around the world in 30 minutes.

Here's the great thing about this.

One of you will win 5,000 bucks

and be guaranteed in a spot next week in the finale.

Four of you will be competing for survival.

We're gonna send you back to the kitchens,

and we'll call you when we have a decision.

Thank you very much.

♪♪

who's gonna punch their ticket

and go first class to five grand and hit the finale?

I have a favorite dish... Okay.

...And I think it was laura's.

-The cuban dish? -The cuban dish. Yeah.

My favorite dish was mexico.

I thought nick really took us to mexico.

[ laughs ] guys, don't do it to me.

♪♪

[ cart rattles, register dings ]

[ cart rattles, register dings ]

chefs, I'll tell you, this was a fantastic round.

Now it comes down to the decision of who gets best dish.

The chef who wins best dish, 5,000 bucks,

and moves directly into the finale next week will be...

♪♪

...Laura. [ gasps ] oh, my god. Seriously?

Thank you. Thank you.

Congratulations. So, laura, that's it.

10,000 bucks you've already made.

[ laughs ] alright, hot shot.

We'll see you next week, and that's the big finale.

Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you.

Very happy for you. Go get 'em. Yes!

Good luck, you guys.

[ laughs ]

I was supposed to be sending four of you

into the survival round,

but I got to be honest with you,

it was a pretty hard-fought battle of the other chef

that should have won the money.

You're not getting the money, but you are gonna be safe,

and you will move directly into the finale.

That chef will be...

Chef nick. Congratulations.

See you next week, buddy.

On to the finale.

You three. Here's the deal.

We're gonna go back to the carts,

two will move on, one will be eliminated,

and the challenge is gonna be tough.

[ cart rattles, register dings ]

well, chefs, there are only two spots.

Two of you will move on to the finale.

One chef's luck will finally run out.

So I want you to take a summer trip to the islands,

and I want you to make the judges...

A tropical favorite.

Think exotic fruits, island spices,

beautiful beaches.

But, listen, if you want to look good

and you're gonna take some of those seaside selfies,

you better watch your weight, right?

♪♪

this is "watch your weight,"

and you only get to get six pounds.

Feel good?

I'm nervous. Six pounds. Six pounds.

Six pounds?

Condiments. [ laughs ]

if I divide the six pounds by the three of you,

what would you get?

Two pounds each.

One pound can make the difference

between who goes home and who doesn't.

[ laughs ]

gigi gets it first?

When guy said this was gonna be a tropical challenge...

...That's right up my alley because I'm a singaporean girl.

[ laughs ]

I'm gonna marry two of my favorites,

sambal fish and papaya salad,

and put them together in one dish.

I am tripping.

Sambal is a chili spice paste, but...

This is not, this is not, this is not.

...Condiments weigh a lot.

Fresh, fresh, fresh, fresh, fresh.

So I'm gonna get all the fresh produce.

Cilantro again.

Luckily, I can pack a punch with these tiny ingredients.

I'm hoping this is not too much weight.

It has to be under six, right?

I'm gonna have to make some edits for my tropical dish.

Can you get rid of one of the papayas?

I need it.

Both of them?

I'm kind of bummed out that I lost a papaya.

Take it, dump it right in your basket.

Good luck, chef.

This is my last chance of getting to the finale.

Just got to keep hustling. I'm so close.

♪♪

come on. Six pounds limit? Why would you have six pounds?

Hey, don't make too much.

You don't need all that skirt steak.

Lot of bang for the buck, but probably two pounds.

I'm thinking right away in argentina,

which is a tropical country.

Right now, I can't think of anything else.

So I'm gonna make argentina skirt steak

with a chimichurri salsa verde and some papas fritas.

I'm not very familiar with tropical ingredients.

I'm confused if they mean sweet or spicy.

I'm gonna make my own version of it.

Weigh it up, chef.

Cilantro, parsley, four potato, five pounds.

Chef, what makes it tropical? You think argentina's tropical?

I look at the globe, look at the map.

Argentina's in the tropic.

No chili, no fresno chili in that, anything red?

I was thinking -- go grab it. Hurry up, hurry up.

So I'm grabbing some fresno chili

to give a vibe of the tropical eat, maybe.

Go, chef, you're done.

Just grab the whole tray. Dump it in there.

Thank you.

So, I know everybody's questioning it right now.

Argentina tropical?

There are some areas of argentina

that I'm told are tropical,

so I think we're going to let it slide,

but it better be a darn good dish.

Q matisse': So, when I think of tropical, I think the caribbean.

I'm thinking seafood automatically.

Big heavy piece of fish. Shrimp might be a better play.

Need jerk seasoning.

So I'm gonna turn the shrimp into jerk shrimp.

That's dry. I'll take it.

With a coconut cabbage stew.

My grandmother, she's from the british west indies,

so I'm very familiar with caribbean food.

Caribbean cooking's about spice, so I grab fresno chili,

parsley for that freshness and that color.

Cabbage, shrimp, couple limes.

You're out. Five pounds.

Aarti: When I think tropical flavor,

I want to be on the beach, sea breeze in my hair.

I think pineapple, mango. I think fish.

I think colorful food that's light

with a lot of acid.

Gigi, you ever been to the tropics before?

No, not really.

I'm a little bit out of my element right now.

Tropical food is not my food,

but argentina's very similar in the way we think about food.

They love grilling. They love meat.

Gonna make a grilled skirt steak,

chimichurri sauce with kind of salsa verde,

and some papas fritas.

Yeah, this is a brand new world for me.

I'm not very familiar with tropical food,

but I love it.

I mean, what's not to love?

I can grill something, do some flavorful stuff.

I'm game.

So much on the line, right?

We're looking for the last two spots

in the finale episode of this summertime showdown.

One person is going home just short of the finish line.

Oof.

[ cart rattles, register dings ]

[ cart rattles, register dings ]

guy: 20 minutes. 20 to cook.

The chefs that we're seeing right now,

they're in this survival round.

Each one of these chefs had a fatal error

in their dishes in that first round.

Right, but none of it matters now. This is do or die.

Right. Rubber meets the road.

Guy: Alright, chef, what's on the menu now?

So, I have papaya salad with grilled sole.

How are you going to season the sole?

With this.

Sambal fish is a dish you can find in singapore

when you're barbecuing with your friends.

It's fish or stingray

marinated in chili paste that's been cooked off.

Super fragrant, super delicious.

And I'm gonna bring the same flavor to my fish

with this marinade and the grill.

I blend lemongrass, garlic, shallots, turmeric,

fresno, obviously fish sauce -- can't live without it.

I am from a tropical island. I know these ingredients.

Hey, em, how you doing down there?

I'm good. How are you?

I'm good. What are you making?

I'm going to jamaica, doing a little jerk.

What'd you call me, a jerk?

Yeah. [ chuckles ] not at all.

My grandmother, she's from the british west indies,

so I'm gonna take one of her dishes

that I'm very proud of and create it today.

Jerk shrimp with grilled cabbage and a coconut stew.

It don't get more tropical than that.

When guy said tropical favorite,

the first thing I thought was jerk seasoning.

Yeah. It's exactly what you would expect

from a beautiful island in the tropics,

sipping a margarita together or maybe a mai tai, aarti.

Got the whole week off. Tell me more.

He's playing video games inside. He's happy, we're happy.

That's it. That's where I want to be.

Q matisse': While my shrimp's marinating,

I'm gonna work on my cabbage stew.

First, I'm gonna grill my cabbage.

♪♪

fresno chilies are gonna add the heat,

and it's gonna give that tropical feel, as well.

♪♪

I take my potatoes and carrots

and throw them in my boiling water,

just to soften them up a little bit.

What's gonna bring the spice?

I got a chili, gonna kick it up with some more cayenne

and a little red peppers.

Gigi, how are you?

I'm good.

So I'm in the middle of making my tropical flavor dish.

Go back to potato, my potato,

I'm gonna do the classic twice-fried technique,

so I'm gonna fry them first, let them rest,

then double-fry them.

I think it's gonna be a nice side for the steak.

Now I have to start making the chimichurri,

so I have the olive oil.

I add the cilantro, the parsley, parsley, parsley.

Oregano, chives.

I want that trophy so bad.

I just become partnership in a new restaurant.

It will look fantastic.

I'm gonna add some chili.

So I add fresno chili to give tropical touch to the dish.

Gonna provide the heat that maybe the judge are looking for.

♪♪

-delicious. -Thank you.

11 minutes, okay, okay, okay.

For my tropical favorite,

I've got my fish marinating already,

and now I'm gonna get started on my papaya salad.

I mandoline the papaya so it's these thin shreds.

Take fresh almonds, throw in the shallots,

fresno, and lime juice.

A little bit of that, and let's blend it all up,

see where it takes me.

That will be my dressing for the papaya salad.

Papaya salad could be a perfect summer salad.

It's green, crunchy.

It's a little sweet and very easy to eat.

They're so thin.

I got to get my fish going.

You could put it on the grill quick,

get nice sear marks on it, and then finish it in the pan.

Heard. Wish me luck.

I don't want to make the same mistake

I did before with over-grilling the scallops

because I'm trying to make it to the finale.

I'm working on a singaporean popup.

That's what keeps me pushing through the competition.

I've been cooking my heart out.

-Did it work? -It did.

Great. Nice little char.

Five minutes, chefs! Five to go!

Heard that.

Justin: Guys, this is q matisse's third time in the bottom.

I think he's starting to get a little bit annoyed.

I'm hoping that he comes back swinging.

I think sometimes being annoyed is the best motivator,

because you're like, "again, guys?

Again you're gonna put me here?"

so, I've got to survive this round and really show

that I belong here for the finale.

I'm doing what I know and what I've been around --

my grandmother's jerk shrimp

with a grilled cabbage coconut stew

because it's so simple, but it has so much flavor.

♪♪

[ utensil clatters ]

needs some heat, a little cayenne.

Now it's time to turn up the heat,

add some sugar to break down my cabbage.

♪♪

oh, yeah. I like that.

Guy: Two minutes!

Pierluigi: I'm ready. I'm ready to rock and roll.

I start cutting the steak.

♪♪

and then I'm gonna put a bunch of papas fritas next to that.

I'm gonna dress them with the chimichurri on top

and a little fresno chili.

I'm happy with the dish. I gave it all, no matter what.

Emily: The first thing I get on my plate is my papaya salad.

♪♪

next, I add two pieces of my grilled sole.

Garnish with some fresh mint.

Looking at my tropical dish, I think I nailed it.

I've got everything under control.

This vacation ain't over. I'm trying to win.

First, I put down my grilled cabbage stew...

♪♪

...Added my shrimp.

So I'm grabbing some limes to give it that citrus flavor.

Guy: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

That's it. Nice job. -Wow.

I did my best.

Oh, yeah.

Alright, chefs.

Only two of these tropical dishes are gonna make it.

Who's gonna get their passport punched?

Let's take it to the judges. Right this way.

[ cart rattles, register dings ]

[ cart rattles, register dings ]

alright, judges, this is it.

Week 4 survival round of our "summer grillin' games,"

and our chefs played "watch your weight"

with six pounds or less to make a tropical favorite.

Man, they were excited. Gigi is so excited.

Chef q, you're up first. What'd you make us?

I have a little jerk sauteed shrimp with a coconut cabbage.

I got some grilled cabbage, potatoes, carrots.

Please enjoy.

♪♪

and what makes it yellow?

Is there, like, a curry powder or anything?

No, it's the color from the carrots.

Seeps into the coconut milk.

The cabbage has some acidity to it.

Yes, I added fresh lime juice.

You cooked these shrimp perfectly.

Like, they pop, and they've got this nice,

kind of savory coating of spice

that that sauce kind of melded in.

As much as I feel like this could be a heavy,

wintry style dish,

it actually eats light

because the sweetness of your carrot

with the spice in there and the milk.

Like, I can't get over how tasty it really, really is.

Chef, I could eat this all day, every day.

I appreciate it. Thank you.

I mean, all day, every day. Yeah, thank you.

One of the things that you did is that you added

an assertive amount of lime juice. Yes.

And I think that's what keeps it so light. Thank you.

Justin: Because this is a knockout punch.

-Thank you, chef. -I'm not kidding.

The jerk component in there is present, but not oppressive.

More shrimp, please.

Heard, chef.

-More shrimp, please. -Well said, buddy.

Thank you. Up next, chef em.

I'm marrying singaporean with thai,

so the singaporean flavors you'll find

is the sambal fish that I grilled.

So I marinated with fresnos, garlic,

turmeric, shallot, and lime juice.

I also made a thai papaya salad.

Got fish sauce, mint, cilantro, sriracha almonds

because they're super crunchy and pack a punch.

♪♪

chef emily, one of the hardest things about "watch your weight"

is that a lot of the things

that it seems like you like to use --

condiments, sauces -- they weigh so darn much.

I'm starting to think that you might subcutaneously

secrete sriracha or something like that, because...

[ laughing ] there you go. There you go. [ laughs ]

-that's actually funny. -It's my chili tattoo.

I have no idea how you got so much bombastic flavor

to just six pounds.

Did you use an aromatic, like a shallot or something?

I put lemongrass, I forgot to say.

You found the lemongrass, yes.

The lemongrass comes in really beautifully,

and it gives it that nice aromatic note.

All these fresh colors, all these fresh textures,

they just sing tropical to me.

Can't get over how delicious this is,

but how texturally sound it is.

Great job. Thank you.

Alright, not to be outdone,

chef gigi, what do you have for us?

Fun fact.

Not everybody knows that actually,

argentina is on the tropical.

I made a classic skirt steak with a chimichurri verde.

I put some fresno chili, my touch, and some fritas.

♪♪

good frites, buddy.

♪♪

I'm a steak and french fry guy, and I love it.

Whether or not it's relating to the tropics or not,

I think you got a killer char on it.

I think the beef flavor's intense,

so at the end of the day,

tropics, maybe you're halfway there,

but execution, you're all the way there. Thank you.

The salsa verde is delicious.

I like the touch of the fresno.

In terms of looking for something

that is maybe conventionally tropical,

I'm getting it out of that fresno chili that you grilled,

so I'm getting some of that char and some of the heat.

I just made fries on this show the other day.

Yours are better. Okay, fine. Fine, gigi, fine.

Thank you, I appreciate it. I'm sure yours are better.

No, I promise you, they were not.

[ laughter ]

great job, chefs. Lots of inspiration.

Lots of great food. Two will move onto the finals.

Unfortunately, one will be going home.

Call you back when we have a decision from the judges.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, chefs.

Bye, gigi.

♪♪

gigi. [ laughs ]

okay, who moves up?

♪♪

good luck, guys. No matter what, it was fantastic.

Thank you very much. Let's bring the chefs back in, please.

♪♪

judges, thank you. Chefs, let me just say this.

You did great dishes.

Everybody made delicious food, there's no question.

Unfortunately, and this is really an unfortunate,

because if there's ever a time that I thought everybody

should move on, it would be now,

but we have to go to four in the finale.

The chef that will be checking out

in this survival round

will be...

♪♪

♪♪

...Chef gigi.

Chef, hold tight, hold tight.

Chef gigi, you gave us

a picture perfect argentinian dish.

We were hoping that you would put

a little more of a tropical spin

so it really screamed tropical favorite.

This is the end of the prom, my friend.

You have to accept. You have to accept the decision.

I'm going home.

Listen, I'm playing against

two beautiful, fantastic other chefs,

and they made a better dish than mine.

Friend, what a pleasure to have you. Thanks.

This is fine. This fine.

Aww.

Guy: Wow, gigi.

I mean, next time, I'm gonna make a better dish, I guess.

Ciao, ciao.

Guy: What a great guy, man.

Congratulations, chefs. You did it. It's the finale.

Who is going to be the champion of the "summer grillin' games"

and take home the 25,000 bucks?

$25,000 is a lot of money.

I want you to make the judges the ultimate grilled feast.

You can feel everybody fighting tooth and nail

to be the winner and win that $25,000.

There's no clear cut front runner. Mnh-mnh.

The winner of 25,000 bucks

and the "summer grillin' games" championship is...

You'll have to tune in next week and find out.

We'll see you then. Adios.

See you guys next week. Beau: Yeah!