The legendary black box is making a comeback this year, but with something new. For this anniversary season, she took her place, for the first time, among the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France.
Before confronting the Black Box, the candidates had to take up the challenge of two MOFs (best workers in France), Gilles Goujon and Tom Meyer, on two technical tests: the soufflé omelette and the Italian meringue.
In the gray brigade, the candidates competed in the soufflé omelette test, where the Belgian Bryan particularly excelled. He tells our colleagues at the DH: “I remember watching a video of Mère Poularde and I said to myself that since I was with the MOF, I had to do things the old-fashioned way. It’s not basically my cooking but I tried to do things correctly.”
As for the orange brigade, it was another Belgian, Arnaud, who stood out with his Italian meringue proposal. “The last two weeks I was always on the limit, so it’s nice to win an event, especially this one where I thought it really wasn’t for me. So I’m super happy“, he explains to us.
An eliminatory black box
The two candidates in danger following the first test, namely Shirley and Marie, respectively from the orange and gray brigade, had to defend their place with the black box test.
The test consists of reproducing a dish with three techniques of the best workers in France (fine stuffing, spherification and glazing) using only the sense of touch and taste. This year, it was a dish created by Guy Krenzer, double MOF, who awaited the candidates. Arnaud, who did not participate in this event, quips: “I was behind the scenes during the test with chef Gilles Goujon and when he explained the dish to me, honestly I thought there were several plates!”
To avoid elimination, Shirley was able to surround herself with two leaders of her brigade, Stéphanie Le Quellec and Dominique Crenn, accompanied by several of her brigade comrades. On Marie’s side, she was able to count on Glenn Viel, Paul Pairet and her comrades, including the Belgian Bryan. The latter had no apprehension for this test: “I think that’s why Marie wanted to choose me. I was a bit in clerk mode with the two chefs, because even if they were also supposed to be clerks, when Paul Pairet tells you to go get a scale, you do it and shut up! (laughs).”
Bryan was also in charge of spherification during this ordeal, but his work was disrupted by another member of the brigade: “It’s Paul Pairet“, he admits to us. “He didn’t tell me, but it can only be him since we worked on the same job!”
The one who leaves the adventure is…
At the end of the test, chef Guy Krenzer was particularly impressed by the two proposed plates, which were very close to the original plate. By awarding points for the different techniques, taste and visual appearance, it was ultimately the plate from the gray brigade that won the event. It is therefore Shirley who is eliminated from the Top Chef adventure.
