The Taste It Now Make It Challenge is one of the most recurring challenges of Hell's Kitchen.
Overview[]
Usually done during the black jackets stage of the competition, Ramsay cooks the chefs his own meal, and all of them must recreate it, using taste alone. The contestant that has the most accurate recreation of Ramsay's dish is declared the winner. If it was happening as the first black jacket challenge, the chefs would break off into pairs.
This is another palate test as Ramsay wants the chefs to recreate dishes using their own taste.
History[]
Season 2[]
Episode 9 of Season 2 marks the first time this challenge happened when 3 chefs were remaining. Ramsay gave 20 minutes to recreate his own dish, which was a wild striped sea bass with a Tuscan white beans purée, a couscous sauce, and a grapefruit side. Virginia got all the ingredients spot on and became the first contestant ever to win this challenge. She won an afternoon in the kitchen with Ramsay to get some tips from him, while Heather and Keith were forced to polish the glasses and silverware.[1]
Season 4[]
In episode 13, this challenge happened when there were also 3 chefs remaining. Ramsay gave 45 minutes to recreate his dish, which was a venison striploin with a white bean purée, and a raspberry crème sauce. Christina was the closest chef of the remaining three, missing only the raspberry crème, and won the challenge. She went on a tour bus through Hollywood with her parents, which included stops at two upscale restaurants, while Corey and Petrozza crushed ice blocks by hand and polished glasses.[2]
Season 5[]
In episode 12, this challenge happened when 4 chefs were remaining. Ramsay gave the chefs 30 minutes to recreate his dish, which was an Italian Fish Stew that included scallops, stock, and alcohol. Danny was the closest of the four, missing only the peradone for his alcohol, and won the challenge. He won a biplane ride with Ramsay while the remaining chefs had to work with Jean-Philippe in polishing the crystal ware, shampooing the carpets, and prepping for that night’s service.[3]
Season 6[]
In episode 11, this challenge happened when 6 chefs were remaining, and competed in pairs for the first time. Ramsay paired up Van and Ariel, Tennille and Kevin, and Dave and Suzanne before giving the three pairs 30 minutes to recreate his turbot dish with calamari garnish, white onion purée, and a passionfruit sauce. The pair of Dave and Suzanne were the closest of the three pairs, missing only the white onions for their purée, and won the challenge. They went to Ramsay's West Hollywood Restaurant and met Season 4 winner Christina who ate lunch with them while the remaining chefs had to prep for a Couples Night Service and help Jean-Philippe decorate the dining room.[4]
Season 7[]
In episode 14, this challenge happened when 4 chefs were remaining. Benjamin, Autumn, Jay, and Holli participated in this challenge after tasting a sample dish from the menu of the Savoy Grill, where the winner would be working. The time limit was 30 minutes, and the dish featured vension, pear purée, and pancetta garnish. Jay was eliminated first, as he was the only one to use flank steak when the others correctly used venison. Had he used venison, he would have won, as he was the only one to get the purée correct (pear); the others thought it was apple. Autumn was then eliminated for using a bacon garnish instead of pancetta. Ramsay broke the tie in favor of Holli, as her sauce tasted better than Benjamin's. Holli got to spend a day on a luxury yacht, while the others cleared out the dorms.[5]
Season 8[]
In episode 13, this challenge happened when 4 chefs were remaining. Ramsay gave the chefs 45 minutes to recreate his veal dish which included carrot purée, nappa cabbage garnish with pancetta, and port wine chicken stock sauce. Nona was the closest of the four, missing only the carrot purée for her dish, and won the challenge. She won a trip to Beverly Hills at the Hands-on Boutique Spa, which she took Russell with, a new Demeyere pan set, and a Gordon Ramsay cookbook. Jillian and Trev were forced to prep the kitchen for that night’s dinner service and iron both the tablecloths and Ramsay’s chef jackets.[6]
Season 9[]
In episode 15, this challenge happened when 4 chefs were remaining. Will, Paul, Elise, and Tommy participated in this challenge after reconvening with their loved ones. The time limit to recreate the fish dish was 30 minutes. All four got the garnish correct: mushroom, kale, cream. Then Tommy was the first to be eliminated, as he wrapped the fish in Serrano ham while the others all used prosciutto, which was correct. The other three all had different fish: Will with monkfish, Paul with cod, and Elise with halibut. Ramsay revealed that cod was correct, giving Paul the victory. He and his brother spent the afternoon at a Dodgers game and got to meet Tommy Lasorda and Don Mattingly, while the others cleared out the dorms.[7]
Season 10[]
In episode 16, this challenge happened when 6 chefs were remaining. Ramsay assigned them into pairs as follows: Clemenza and Dana, Barbie and Justin, and Christina and Robyn. All three agreed on veal as the main protein and white bean as the purée base, but Clemenza and Dana took a different path than the others. They wrapped the veal in prosciutto, seasoned the purée with horseradish and wasabi, and used a Madeira-based sauce. The two other pairs went with Serrano ham, smoked bacon, and port sauce. Ramsay revealed that the correct answers were prosciutto, smoked bacon, and Madeira, giving Clemenza and Dana the victory for 3 out of 4 components correct compared to 2 out of 4 for everyone else. They were rewarded with a gourmet picnic and water skiing at Silverwood Lake, while the others prepped the dining room with James.[8]
Season 11[]
In episode 20, this challenge happened when 4 chefs were remaining. The chefs had 30 minutes to recreate Ramsay's dish, which included a meat protein, a purée, and diced vegetables. Although neither chef got the purée correct, they all used butternut squash when it was carrot, Cyndi and Ja'Nel both got the correct protein, venison. Ultimately, Cyndi won as she got the vegetable correct, rutabaga. She won a $1000 shopping spree at Sur la Table and lunch with Ramsay at his own Fat Cow restaurant, while the remaining chefs had to participate in Moving day.[9]
Season 12[]
In episode 19, this challenge happened when 4 chefs were remaining. Melanie, Jason, Scott, and Rochelle participated in the challenge after reconvening with their loved ones. The dish included a fish protein in a meat wrapping, garnish, and purée with a 40-minute time limit. Although everybody got the correct meat wrapping, prosciutto, Jason and Rochelle were the only ones that got both the fish and garnish correct, sole, and butternut squash respectively. However, Jason got the purée correct, watercress, and he won the challenge. Jason earned a VIP restaurant tour in Los Angeles, visiting Fig & Olive and Ink, spent more time with his loved ones, and received brand-new stainless-steel cookware. The remaining chefs had to participate in moving day and prep the kitchen for service.[10]
Season 13[]
In episode 15, this challenge happened when 4 chefs were remaining. Bryant, Jennifer, La Tasha, and Sade participated in this challenge after reconvening with their loved ones. The dish included a protein, sauce, and starch, and the time limit was 45 minutes. Only Jennifer and Sade correctly identified the protein as rabbit, as Bryant guessed turkey and La Tasha guessed pheasant. Both also got the starch base correct; it was couscous. Finally, Jennifer correctly identified sun-dried tomatoes in the sauce, as Sade thought it was dried cherry. Jennifer earned lunch with her family at Mr. Chow's followed by a chocolate tasting at the Vosges. The others had to pack up the dorms and prepare the dining room for dinner service, as it would be the 200th service in the history of Hell's Kitchen.[11]
Season 14[]
In episode 13, this challenge happened when 6 chefs were remaining, and competed in pairs. Nick and Michelle quickly paired up and T chose Milly, leaving Meghan and Josh together. The dish was fish and dumplings in a spicy broth and the time limit was 30 minutes. Meghan and Josh were the only pair to get the protein wrong; it was sea bass when they used halibut. Furthermore, Nick and Michelle were the only pair to correctly use soy sauce as the broth base, as the other two pairs used sake. For this, they were declared winners and went on an amphibious vehicle tour of Long Beach and the Queen Mary, while the others were forced to sort trash and prepare mashed potatoes for a homeless shelter.[12]
Season 16[]
In episode 11, this challenge happened before black jackets for the first time, with 8 chefs remaining. Ramsay also stipulated that only one chef from each team would be allowed to taste, and the other would have to cook it.
From the red team, Kimberly tasted while Heidi cooked, and Heather tasted while Andrew cooked. From the blue team, Paulie asked to pair up with Ryan, but she declined, so he had to taste while Devin cooked, and Wendy tasted while Ryan cooked. The time limit was 30 minutes, and the teams needed to identify a protein, a fruit purée, and some greens.
Heather and Andrew were the only pair to use apricot purée when the correct answer was persimmon. However, they were also the only pair to get the greens correct in Swiss chard, as both pairs from the blue team used spinach, and Kimberly and Heidi went with collard greens. So, everything came down to the protein, which Ramsay revealed to be veal. Wendy and Ryan were the only pair to use it, as the other three served pork chops. This gave the blue team the challenge victory, and the reward was trapeze lessons. Also, the winning pair of Wendy and Ryan received Vitamix blenders. The red team was forced to prep the dining room ahead of the charity dinner, including carving beet roses for centerpieces.[13]
Season 17[]
In episode 12, when 7 chefs were remaining, this challenge was used as the first of three Black Jacket Challenges. Ramsay gave the chefs 45 minutes to recreate one of the most complicated dish in the history of this challenge, which was a Sea Bass dish with two purées and a five-ingredient hash. Everybody got the main protein correct, but only Michelle and Milly got the White purée correct, which was white asparagus, while the others thought it was cauliflower. However, Milly got the green purée correct, which was Romanesco, making him the first chef to receive a black jacket. For the hash, the ingredients were sweet potatoes, fava beans, celery root, apples, and chives. Both Nick and Benjamin were the closest to four. However, Benjamin slightly burned his sea bass, so Nick became the second chef to receive a black jacket. Milly and Nick were rewarded with spending the rest of the day in the Black Jacket Lounge, while the remaining five chefs had to participate in the following challenge.[14]
Season 18[]
In episode 13, this challenge happened when 5 chefs were remaining, and it was the first black jackets challenge. For that year, Ramsay had the chefs recreate his eggs Benedict dish which included two proteins and a secret ingredient in the hollandaise sauce. Both Ariel and Mia got the proteins correct, Canadian bacon and prosciutto, and each of them got different ingredients for the hollandaise sauce correct as while Mia got shallots, Ariel got paprika. As a result, Ramsay named the two of them joint-winners. They were rewarded with a sky diving experience at a vertical wind tunnel with the Sous Chefs and lunch at Sweet Butters, while the remaining chefs had to clean the dorms.[15]
Season 19[]
In episode 12, when 6 chefs were remaining, this challenge was used as the first of three Black Jacket Challenges. Ramsay gave the chefs 40 minutes to recreate his fish dish which included two purées and the salad topping. Nikki, Declan, and Mary Lou were the only ones that got the fish protein correct, which was cod, and all three of them got the purées correct, cauliflower and butternut squash. However, Mary Lou was the only one of the three that got the correct salad which was green apple and endives. For that, she won the first black jacket, but then, Ramsay decided to award Declan the second black jacket because he was the only one who remembered to finish his dish with olive oil and shallots. Mary Lou and Declan were rewarded with spending the rest of the day in the Black Jacket Lounge, while the remaining four chefs had to participate in the following challenge.[16]
Trivia[]
- A similar challenge has occurred in Ramsay's other cooking show MasterChef.
- Since the first time this challenge occurred, Seasons 3, 15, 20, and 21 are the only seasons that did not feature it.
- In the history of the show, this challenge used the individual variant ten times and the pair variant three times.
- Season 16 is the first season, and the only one to date, where this challenge was used during the team phase of the competition.[13]
- Season 17 is the first season where this challenge was used as part of another challenge.[14]
- Nick is the only contestant to win this challenge in two different seasons, Seasons 14 and 17. He is also the only contestant to win the challenge in both the pair format and the individual format.[12][14]
- This is one of the few individual challenges to produce a tie.[15]
- Gordon Ramsay has stated this challenge to be his favorite in Hell's Kitchen.