Things got spicy in Hell’s Kitchen — and not just because of the salsa. On Thursday night’s episode, “Guac a mole in Hell’s Kitchen,” the chefs were greeted by a surprise Mariachi band before facing one of Gordon Ramsay’s most unpredictable challenges yet. In true Hell’s Kitchen fashion, the cooks had to gamble for their ingredients in a wild culinary game that determined what they could use to create an elevated Mexican dish.
Guest judge Gabriela Cámara, the acclaimed chef behind Mexico City’s Contramar, joined Gordon to taste the results — and let’s just say not everyone’s gamble paid off. Later, dinner service descended into chaos as both teams wrestled with pork chops and plating precision, leaving Gordon fuming and one chef’s dream on the chopping block.
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Here are the contestants competing and the state each represents in Hell’s Kitchen: Battle of the States.
Blue Team
State
Red Team
State
Anthony
Iowa
Alexandra
Oregon
Antonio
New Hampshire
Anaiya
Delaware
Bradley
Louisiana
Cara Marie
Rhode Island
Carlos
Alaska
Cat
Maryland
Chase
Montana
Cydni
North Carolina
Chris
New Jersey
Elaina
South Carolina
Henry
Texas
Ellie
Nevada
Jayden
Massachussetts
Jada
Florida
Jon
Georgia
Lisa
California
Paul
Colorado
Maddy
New York
The Challenge
In this week’s challenge, the chefs are presented with six proteins. After deciding who will cook what on each team, they face off in a game of “Guac a Mole,” where they must whack ingredients to build their dishes. Each pair has 45 minutes to create an elevated Mexican entrée — but there’s a twist: whatever ingredients they hit must be used by both competitors.
Here’s the head-to-head lineup and how the challenge played out, as judged by chef and restaurateur Gabriela Cámara.
Chicken Thighs
Jayden def. Cydni
Flat Iron Steak
Cara Marie tied Anthony
Pork Tenderloin
Jon def. Ellie
Red Prawns
Alexandra tied Henry
Red Snapper
Anaiya def. Chris
Skirt Steak
Jada def. Lisa
By a score of 5–3, the Blue Team claimed victory and earned a well-deserved fiesta by the pool, complete with a Mexican-inspired lunch and relaxing spa treatments. Meanwhile, the Red Team was left behind to hand-make tortillas for the next dinner service.
Gordon Ramsay and Gabriela Cámara on ‘Hell’s Kitchen 28’Fox
Dinner service
Gordon was offering up Mexican delicacies on tonight’s menu at Hell’s Kitchen. A new menu was sure to bring chaos to the competition, and the first mistake was Jayden’s overcooked lobster on the Blue Team. “It’s butter-poached, not hammered!” Gordon screams.
In the Red kitchen, Cydni’s raw scallops had Gordon questioning whether losing Jada had completely thrown the team off their game. Over in the Blue kitchen, Jada was proving just how valuable she was, breezing through appetizers while her former teammates continued to flounder. Gordon eventually sent her back to the Red side to knock some sense into them — though Alexandra wasn’t exactly inspired by the pep talk. Still, the Red Team finally managed to get their first appetizers out, while the Blue Team had already moved on to entrées.
The Blue Team’s hot streak came to a screeching halt when Jon topped his fries with the wrong cheese. Then, as if to say “hold my beer,” Henry followed it up by sending raw pork to the pass. Things weren’t any better in the Red kitchen, where Anaiya lost her cool and started tossing utensils across the counter. “I’m starting to get a little pissed off. This is fucking embarrassing!” she shouted.
Gordon’s frustration boiled over when Chris sent up an overcooked steak, but the Blue chef quickly redeemed himself with a flawless second attempt. Meanwhile, the Red kitchen was in freefall. Anaiya — whom Cydni nicknamed “Little Miss Attitude” — served raw chicken, followed by her teammates’ undercooked salmon and rice missing its cilantro. At his breaking point, Gordon finally kicked the entire Red Team out of the kitchen. And while they lasted longer, Gordon refused to call the Blue Team’s performance a “winning” one. Both teams were forced to come up with two nominees for elimination.
Elimination
The Red Team put Alexandra and Cydni on the chopping block, while the Blue Team nominated Jon and Henry. In the end, Gordon sent Jon home, declaring, “John may be from the Peach State, but there was nothing peachy about his performance tonight.”
Hell’s Kitchen 24: JonFox
Next Week
Will the Blue Team stop at nothing to throw the Red Team off their game — and will their antics push Gordon too far? Another chef’s dream goes up in flames in an all-new Hell’s Kitchen.
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