The Taste Recap – Anthony Under Fire: Season 3 Episode 6 “Bring the Heat”

The Taste Recap - Anthony Under Fire: Season 3 Episode 6 "Bring the Heat"

On ABC tonight The Taste returns with another new Thursday January 15, season 3 episode 6 called “Bring the Heat,” and we have your weekly recap below. On tonight’s episode, contestants are challenged to turn up the heat with spicy dishes such as Szechuan pepper and pork. Andy Ricker is the guest chef.

On last week’s episode, Bold, bright – and most of all – flavorful and spicy! It was Latin week on ABC’s “The Taste” with the remaining competitors tasked with creating dishes like ceviche and tacos. With both a group and solo challenge ahead, in the end, two more cooks were sent home. Did you watch the last episode? If you missed it we have a full and detailed recap right here for you.

On tonight’s episode as per the ABC synopsis, “the competition is getting even hotter when the remaining contestants fight to cook another day in a hot and spicy “bring the heat” themed challenge using ingredients like Szechuan pepper and pork. With solo and group challenges ahead, two more cooks will be sent home, and the remaining competitors will head to the finale where only one will be named “The Taste” champion.”

Don’t forget to join us for our live recap tonight at 8:00pm when The Taste Season 3 episode 6 returns to ABC. While you wait for the recap, let us know what you think of The Taste!

Tonight’s episode begins now – Refresh Page often to get the most current updates!

#TheTaste starts now. Tonight’s guest mentor is Check Andy Ricker and the theme is Bring the Heat. Ricker is an expert in Thai cuisine and tells them to make sure the flavor of the food isn’t lost in the heat. Tony says the mentors will be taking them out on a field trip for research. Marcus says he thinks about pork when he thinks about spicy food because it’s so tender. He takes them to a Thai place to sample the food. Ludo tells his team he doesn’t do a lot of spicy food but loves Szechuan food. He wants them to use Szechuan pepper and says it will make them sweat with the heat.

Tony takes his team to a restaurant and takes them to a Malaysian place to sample some dishes. He says it’s all about pleasure and pain. Tarik says he grew up on spicy foods and Tony says he wants a slow burn that causes pain in the whole head. He wants them to make a bowl of something soupy and spicy. The mentors also share some life stories with their team members and then share some of their experiences over their lunches. Then the teams all head back to The Taste studios and they have one hour to prepare for the team challenge.

Tony tells his team – let’s ruin a Frenchman’s day. They each have their assignments from the three mentors and are ready to begin. The teams are all working hard on their dishes as the mentors check in and taste. Tarik talks about his mom being his motivation since his dad died when he was a kid. He says he wants to win this for her. The chefs cook and the mentors keep on tasting. Ben says he’s been cooking with his mom since he was really little made him the chef he is now.

Nigella walks around and says Ludo’s team seems very strained. Tony comes over and Ludo shooes him out. Tony mocks Ludo’s heavy accent and then curses in French as Jen cuts herself again. Tony vows to break Ludo who is freaking out as usual. He says he has nothing to show the best chef in America because he doesn’t like either dish and starts beating up on one of the refrigerators and having a (what I think is very sexy) tantrum cursing in French.

With less than 10 minutes left, the seven cooks are sweating it. Ludo says Ben and Jen are both killing him. He has Jen start over with some Tilapia. Marcus is tasting and pushes Gabe on more grit. With three minutes left, the mentors have to make their decision. Ludo goes with Jen’s dish. Tony goes with Vanessa and Marcus chooses Tristen. The teams are all stressed out when Andy Ricker comes in. He starts with Jen’s and says it’s a little lacking in seasoning.

Next is Vanessa’s. He says it’s rich but not very hot. Tony says Vanessa told him it wasn’t hot enough but he didn’t listen. Next is Tristen’s and Ricker says it’s spicy and has a nice crunch but he would have liked a bit more sweetness. He chooses as his best bite – Tristen’s dish from Team Marcus. Tristen is thrilled and Gabe is excited about the master class. Ludo is irritated.

Ricker says his worst bite was Vanessa from Team Anthony. Ludo sighs in relief. Vanessa is sure she’s going to be sent home. Tony says he’s shocked they lost. Nigella tells Tony he has to send home one of his team. Tony asks Eric who he’d send home and he says Vanessa. He thinks she’s hectic and not focused enough. Vanessa talks about her passion and enthusiasm for food and compares herself to Tony’s daughter. She says she has raw talent and asks him to believe in her.

Tony says her argument is manipulative but so was he when he talked her onto his team. She says to send Eric home since he’s a pro chef and has no gold stars to really show for his training. Tarik says to send Vanessa home as well. Tony says Vanessa told him that the spoon needed more salt and heat and he wouldn’t listen to her. He says he won’t send her home. He says he’s sending Tarik home and tells him he’s sorry he’s paying for his mistake.

Tarik says it’s been a great ride for him and has no complaints. Eric is really put out that he got sent home. Tony says he hated to send him home and he’s very depressed about it. Tarik says he has no regrets. Eric is giving everyone a lot of attitude and he and Gabe almost get into it in the break room. Then Tristen and Gabe next get their master class from Andy Ricker. Andy shows them how to make pad kee mao, a classic Thai dish.

He shows them all the chilies that go into it and shows them how to balance out the heat. They’re cooking beef with it and Gabe says he’s not used to cooking with these ingredients. Gabe says it’s more gritty, less pretty since Andy says he thinks food is pretty and doesn’t need to plate it with a bunch of technique. Andy asks what they’re cooking and then gives them some advice on how to tweak their dishes to be even better.

The individual challenge starts and Nigella says a lot of cooks are scared to work with heat and they talk about the important of complexity. Eric is making chile rellenos. Vanessa is making pho with beef brisket meatball. Gabe is making chile braised pork and crispy chile shrimp over kimchi. Andy tells him to add something sweet. Tristen is making Moo yang with mussels and green chili. Andy tells him to add some lemon grass to throw some citrus in.

Jen is making ahi tuna in spicy ginger broth. Ben is making praised pork belly and kimchi watermelon. Ludo says he thinks Ben can make it to the finals for sure but isn’t sure about Jen since she’s so disorganized. Jen screwed up her dish totally in the final minutes. She poured her broth into her oil and Ben tells her to recover. She has enough left. Ben tastes and says it’s delicious. Nigella wonders if they will be scared to under-spice that they make the dishes nuclear.

Jen frets that hers isn’t spicy enough but then it hits her a moment later. Andy coaches Marcus’ team to make it much hotter. They are down to the last few seconds and are plating. Now is the time to bring the four mentors in for the blind tasting. First dish up is Jen’s ahi tuna and she’s worried she put too much spice in it. Tony says it’s refined, delicate and beautifully put together but not spice enough. Nigella says there is heat but no fire.

Next is Tristen’s moo yang. Marcus says it’s good but he wants more pain. Nigella says the heat is coming and Tony says it took a second but it’s good. The next taste is Ben’s braised pork belly. Ludo says he likes it and Tony says he likes it the more it’s in his mouth. Nigella also likes it and says she could eat more. Next up is Eric’s chile relleno. Ludo says good texture and Tony asks if it’s too much spice since Ludo is so delicate. Nigella says it wasn’t hot enough.

Marcus says the heat isn’t in the protein and they can’t tell what the protein was. Nigella says it’s a bit crude. He’s crushed. The next taste is Gabe’s braised pork and crispy shrimp. Tony and Nigella agree they like it and Tony says it hurts good with the kimchi. He says it wasn’t too refined. Gabe says he broke out of his shell with this and Tony says he’d eat it any time, hot or cold. Vanessa’s pho with bref brisket is next. Tony says no heat. Marcus says he’s waiting for the heat. Ludo says it’s sad.

Tony says there’s two he’d like more of and two that he didn’t like and hopes his cooks didn’t cook. He tells them to take a break while they talk and consult their notes. In the break room, Jen is happy and Vanessa is distraught. Gabe says Jen has really improved herself and has impressed him. She’s the last home cook in the competition and says he’s happy for her. They come back in to hear the mentors’ decision on best and worst bites.
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Tony chose Gabe as his best spoon. Marcus chose Tristen as his favorite spoon. Nigella says her best bite was cooked by Ben. Ludo’s favorite was Ben’s also. Gabe and Tristen each get a gold star and Ben gets two gold stars. Gabe brings out a plate to show them his full dish. Tony says it’s sophisticated and balanced but it was like a trashy, guilty pleasure. This pushes him to six gold stars. Tristen shows off his moo yang. He says Andy gave them great hints on adding heat while keeping balance.

Ben explains his braised pork belly and Nigella says it had pitch-perfect balance. Ludo says it was well balanced and liked the watermelon. Tony picks Jen as his worst bite and says she didn’t bring the heat. Marcus chose Eric as his worst bite. Eric is pissed off. Nigella chose Eric as her worst bite as well. Tony says he’s under-performing consistently. Ludo chooses Vanessa as his worst spoon. Jen and Vanessa each get one red star and Eric gets two.

Now the mentors have to decide who’s going into the taste off. They take a look at their plates. Tony says Jen’s dish is like tuna tartare with a little heat on top. Eric describes his chile relleno and Marcus says there is good technique but it doesn’t translate. Nigella says there was heat only in the sauce. Tony says he’s not happy. Ludo tells Vanessa her dish was boring and she talks about all the chiles she included. Tony says he’s surprised because her seasonings are usually spot on.

Gabe, Tristen and Ben are all definitely in the finale and now they need to decide who’s going to the taste off. Nigella tells them to defend themselves. Eric says he’s a technically sound cook but missed it on the heat. Vanessa says she doesn’t want to go to the taste off. Jen says she doesn’t think she made the worst dish and says she thinks she’d have a better shot against Vanessa. She says she can take Jen in the taste off. Eric says he’d rather face Vanessa in the taste off. They send them to the break room.

Anthony defends Vanessa and Ludo defends Jen but they all seem to agree Eric should be in the taste off. The mentors decide and Jen tells Vanessa to stop sulking and be tough. Vanessa tells her to just – do you – and Jen tells her to just go ahead and cry. They tell Eric and Vanessa they are both in it and Tony isn’t happy he’s got two chefs in it. They have to cook chicken and have 40 minutes to cook it and bring the heat. Tony gets to coach but can’t taste.

The taste off starts and Tony tells them not to cook chicken breasts since the judges won’t go for that. The other mentors go to talk to Andy and they tell him Tony has two cooks in the taste off. Andy says he would do African chicken with chiles and coconut milk if it was him. Tony says he just has to stay the hell out of this and says the winner deserves to go to the finale. Tristen and Gave are encouraging Vanessa but the others are all rooting for Eric. One calls Vanessa a cry baby.

Eric is braising chicken with a pepper sauce. Gabe is annoyed when they tell her to throw in the liver and she can’t tell which part of the chicken it is. Gabe and Tristen are essentially telling her exactly what to cook. Eric is taking Ben’s advice step by step. Tony says it’s very interesting that each is relying on someone else to tell them what to do. Tony asks Ben why he’s helping Eric and he says he wants to cook against him in the finals.

Tony lets them know when they are down to their last 10 minutes. Gabe and Tristen tell Vanessa to add some lime and she squirts some in her eye. Vanessa says it’s super spicy and she thinks she has it. They count down and it’s done. Eric says it was really intense and Vanessa says she’s really stressed out. Eric hugs Ben and thanks him for all his help. Vanessa thanks her two coaches. Ludo, Marcus, Nigella and Andy are ready to taste.

Anthony wishes them luck then goes to stand with the other mentors. He says it’s all out of his hands now. First is Eric’s braised chicken with pepper puree. Then they try Vanessa’s chicken stir fry and Marcus says he likes the crunch and texture. Nigella says Tony will be left with just one cook. Nigella says the cook going home tonight is Vanessa. She’s super disappointed and crying (of course). Tony tells her he’s sorry to see her go and says she did everything he expected and brought honor to her clan.

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