In BBQ Brawl: Flay v. Symon, the contest is getting more and more heated as we get closer to knowing who the final contender will be. With only five pitmasters left, everyone is at the top of their game, doing their best to avoid being sent home for even the smallest of mistakes. BBQ Brawl Season 2 episode 8 is another whirlwind of delicious BBQ dishes, impending time limits and emotions running high!
BBQ Brawl Season 2
This enthralling BBQ competition show is on Discovery + or Amazon prime video, and each new episode's showtime is Monday at 8 pm central time. A Food Network show, this is akin to the TV shows Iron Chef, the Great Food Truck Race, and Big Bad BBQ Brawl with Shannon Ambrosio. If you're a fan of the cooking channel or competition shows, BBQ Brawl is the ultimate combo of both.
The first seven episodes have set the scene for today's competition. In "Introduce Your 'Cue," "Hometown Favorites," "BBQ Hacks," "Game Day BBQ," "Competition 'Cue," and "BBQ Brunch Battle" and "Seafood Showdown," a pitmaster has been sent home, so we're eagerly awaiting the end of the season to discover who will become Master of 'Cue.
From the start of the episode, called "BBQ Around the World," viewers can tell the contenders are feeling the heat. Eddie Jackson starts off the episode smack talking Bobby Flay, saying that the tables have turned and that Flay is down to one pitmaster on his team. Flay is unfazed, confidently replying that the person he has left is going to the finish line.
Bobby Flay then backs up his words with a shocking choice. Although it's his turn to steal a contestant from another team, he decides that he and Erica need no one else, and turns down the opportunity. "I have such huge confidence in Erica," he says.
International Tortilla Challenge
The first competition, which Bobby Flay chooses, is "International Tortilla Challenge." In 30 minutes, everyone must cook their very best international BBQ dish, and include a tortilla in some shape or form. Michael Symon throws shade on Erica and her hometown of Dayton, Ohio, joking "they don't even know what a tortilla is."
However, Erica is cool, calm and collected per usual. Throughout the contest, the contestants are working their hardest to win an advantage for their team. Brittany and Eddie Jackson have some disagreements about the fish she's grilling; he tells her that there's too much grease and that she needs to start over.
She's frustrated, but says that she trusts her team captain, so Brittany starts over on her fish as the clock ticks closer to the time limit. In the end, she isn't able to cook her second fish in time, so she uses the first one and hopes for the best.
Who Will Win The Advantage?
When the time is up, each team has made a beautiful international BBQ meal, but all that matters is who wins that advantage. For team Eddie, Chris makes a Mexican shrimp taco with chipotle paste, which the judges say is delicious but has a slightly limp tortilla (Chris disagrees). Brittany goes for the Caribbean flavors with a blackened halibut taco with mango. The fish is delicious despite her struggles, but the judges wish there were more spice.
For team Bobby, Erica makes a Pac-Rim shrimp taco, which gets its name from its South Pacific Islander influences. It has coconut shrimp and lemon crema, and the judges say that it is perfectly cooked. Last but not least, Ara of team Michael makes Tex-Mex Texas chicken tacos with a crispy shell, and David goes for Indian tandoori chicken. The judges compliment the tasty char on his chicken.
Carson Kressley is on his pun game, exclaiming "your dishes were so amazing I can't wait to taco about them." The winner of the first contest is Erica, so team Bobby wins a well-earned advantage, and so far it seems that Bobby Flay made a good choice at the start of the episode.
International Wheel of 'Cue
The true challenge of the BBQ Brawl Season 2 Episode 8 is also international-themed, called "Wheel of 'Cue," where the team captains must spin a wheel to determine which international style of BBQ they'll be cooking. The wheel features Korean, Caribbean, South America, Japanese, Indian and German as the options.
Bobby's advantage is that he gets to choose his, rather than randomly spinning the wheel for it. He goes for Caribbean, saying that he loves the spicy sweetness of Caribbean flavors, along with the rum. Michael spins first and lands on Japanese BBQ. David of team Michael is less than pleased, saying that Japanese is the most difficult kind of barbecue, requiring the most precision.
Team Eddie lands on South American BBQ, and the contest begins. Each team has 2 hours to make delectable international BBQ meal, and the contestants are ready to go. Erica says she's gunning for Team Eddie because "they need to go home," saying she's "gunning for blood." Bobby Flay bemusedly says "what just happened??"
Despite David's chagrin, team Michael seems to be rising to the challenge, especially because Ara has experience working in a sushi restaurant. The judges watch on the sidelines and remark that Team Michael is the "wild card," and that they will have either a big payoff or some problems with how difficult Japanese BBQ is to master.
The Moment of Truth
In two short hours, the contest is over, and it's time for the judges to make their choices. Team Bobby's Caribbean BBQ is first to be tasted. Erica makes Jamaican grilled snapper with lime and chili butter, along with Moros y Cristianos, which is rice and beans with lime. Bobby makes jerk rubbed pork with peach and green onion relish, along with rum punch. The judges have great things to say overall, but they say that his jerk didn't quite have a bold enough flavor.
Team Eddie's South American BBQ is up next. Brittany makes Peruvian grilled chicken and Argentinian chicken. Chris makes flank steak with chimichurri, along with smoked chorizo.
As for team Michael's Japanese BBQ, Ara has prepared cold smoked tuna sashimi with traditional Japanese BBQ sauce and togorashi seasoning. David makes chicken yakitori with BBQ sauce, and Carson Kressley jokes that it's "yumatori." He also makes pork ramen, which the judges describe as bland. Michael goes for hibachi-style rib eye, which judge Brooke Williamson says is maybe one of the best steaks she's ever had.
After trying the three international meals, it's time to discover who will be sent home, forever losing a shot at the title of Master of 'Cue. The judges say that Bobby took a big risk in the beginning, and that Erica's fish was special but overshadowed her other dish. Overall, it was a solid performance. Team Eddie's meal was classified as a "mixed bag."
When discussing team Michael, the judges acknowledged that his team had the toughest challenge by far, and although there were some flaws, there's no denying that the team knows their Japanese flavors.
The first safe team of BBQ Brawl Season 2 Episode 8 is team Bobby, and then team Michael, meaning that a member of Team Eddie will be going home tonight. The judges start off by saying that they're down to five competitors who are all very talented, making the decision harder. They then say that Brittany's Argentinian chicken didn't make an impact and wasn't great, but her Peruvian one was perfect. As for Chris, his flank steak was perfectly cooked, but his chorizo wasn't crispy.
In the end, Christopher Prieto is selected to go home. He takes it well in the moment and says that he is honored to have gotten this far. However, he then says that he "doesn't think the judges got it right," saying "I was the one that could've gotten to the end." Brittany is full of tears, explaining "these are tears of joy," displaying how happy she is to have remained in the contest.
With only four contestants left, it's getting down to the wire. Tune in next week to see who will impress the judges and who will be forced to leave!
