Exotic Meat Challenge

Exotic Meat Challenge
Gameplay
Type	Team
Seasons Used	Season 14 Season 17 Season 21

The Exotic Meat Challenge is a recurring challenge used in Hell's Kitchen.

Overview

The purpose of this challenge is to test the chef’s creativity on using proteins not commonly used in the culinary industry.

History

Season 14

Episode 9 marked the first time the challenge was used. It happened when there were nine chefs left, five on the red team and four on the blue team. Both teams had forty minutes to cook four dishes using exotic meats. These include ostrich, alligator, elk, and wild boar. Because the red team had an extra person, Michelle and T cooked their own alligator dishes, but come judging, the red team dropped the former's dish. John Shook and Vinny Dotolo came in as guest judges, and the trio scored each dish on a 1-5 scale, with 15 being the highest. Alison scored eight over Nick's six on the elk dish, while Meghan scored eight points over Josh's seven on the wild boar. T scored eleven on the alligator round over Milly's nine. Still, on the ostrich round, Randy scored twelve over Christine's six. The blue team won the challenge 34-33 and went to the Lounge Spa. The red team deep cleaned the kitchens and drank protein shakes.

Season 17

Episode 8 had it when there were eleven chefs left, six on the red team and five on the blue team. Known as the Cave Meat Challenge, both teams cooked three of the earliest meats hunted by cavemen: boar, venison, and elk. First, they had three minutes to collect the ingredients for their dishes by stabbing them with spears. Then, they had forty-five minutes to cook their dishes and paired up on the proteins. However, Nick cooked alone as the blue team was short a member. Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo were invited as guest judges. Van scored on the boar round, while Elise scored on the venison. Lastly, Robyn scored on the elk dish, and the blue team won the challenge 2-1. They went to Hummingbird Nest Ranch and got sample caviar supplied by Petrossian while the red team did Spring Cleaning Day.

Season 21

Episode 8 had it when there were eleven chefs left, six on the blue team and five on the red team. Known as the Game Meat Challenge, both teams cooked three game-themed meats: boar, duck, and venison. To pick their ingredients, the chefs participated in two game show related challenges to grab ingredients for their dishes, or send them to the opposing team. Afterwards, they had forty-five minutes to cook their dishes and paired up on the proteins. However, Sommer cooked alone as the red team was down a member. Before the judging, Ramsay asked both teams to pick one dish each from the three proteins they cooked. The red team went with Sommer by default, Dafne, and Cheyenne, while the blue team went with Sakari, Abe, and Brett. Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo were invited as guest judges. Sakari scored on the boar, while Sommer scored on the duck. Lastly, Cheyenne scored on the venison, and the red team won the challenge 2-1. They went to Lucky Stripes for bowling and had lunch provided by Vinny Dotolo and Jon Shook. The blue team pitted olives and made two pounds of olive tapenade and pesto. Alex used his Punishment Pass and swapped places with Tara.

Trivia

• In the three seasons this challenge was used, the blue team won this challenge the most with two. Coincidentally, all three winning teams were short one chef.
• Milly and Nick are the only chefs to compete in this challenge in two seasons and win (they competed in Seasons 14 and 17). In contrast, Michelle is the only chef to compete in two seasons and lose.
• Season 21 is the only season where this challenge shared aspects with another challenge, this being the Ingredient Spelling Challenge.
• This challenge is the only one in the series to feature the same guest judges whenever it was used.

Gallery

• Season 14
• Season 17
• Season 21

Michelle's Exotic Meat Dish (Alligator) (Not Judged)

Nick's Exotic Meat Dish (Elk)

Alison's Exotic Meat Dish (Elk)

Meghan's Exotic Meat Dish (Wild Boar)

Josh's Exotic Meat Dish (Wild Boar)

Milly's Exotic Meat Dish (Alligator)

T's Exotic Meat Dish (Alligator)

Christine's Exotic Meat Dish (Ostrich)

Randy's Exotic Meat Dish (Ostrich)

Van's Cave Meat Dish (Boar)

Manda's Cave Meat Dish (Boar)

Milly's Cave Meat Dish (Boar)

Jennifer's Cave Meat Dish (Boar)

Nick's Cave Meat Dish (Venison)

Dana's Cave Meat Dish (Venison)

Elise's Cave Meat Dish (Venison)

Barbie's Cave Meat Dish (Elk)

Benjamin's Cave Meat Dish (Elk)

Michelle's Cave Meat Dish (Elk)

Robyn's Cave Meat Dish (Elk)

Alejandro's Game Meat Dish (Duck) (Not Judged)

Vlad's Game Meat Dish (Venison) (Not Judged)

Dafne's Game Meat Dish (Boar)

Sakari's Game Meat Dish (Boar)

Sommer's Game Meat Dish (Duck)

Abe's Game Meat Dish (Duck)

Brett's Game Meat Dish (Venison)

Dafne's Game Meat Dish (Venison)