Last Tuesday night was the semi-finals on “The Taste” and by the end of this episode, there will only be four competing next week for the 100,000 dollar prize.

For the team challenge the mentors gave their team five ingredients that they considered seductive. One thing that was different this week was the cook who prepares the winning spoon does not receive immunity. Instead the cook received a set of cookware identical to the ones they have been using through-out this competition. I know one thing, I would of loved to win that prize!

When it came down to choosing whose spoon will be chosen to represent their team, Gregg told the cameras that it would not be good for team morale if his spoon was chosen again for the fourth time; instead it was Sarah’s spoon that was going to go up against Jeff from Malarkey’s team, Lauren and Diane (both being their mentor’s only cook in their kitchen) The guest judge,  Ingrid Hoffmann blind tasted the spoons and I was very surprised (but a good surprise) when she announced Sarah’s dish as the winning spoon. Gregg actually gave Sarah a hug, what a difference in attitude from the beginning of the season up to now.

For the solo challenge the cooks went to a local farmers market to pick fresh ingredients for their dish. When they got back they had an hour to prepare a sexy and seductive meal and pair it with an equally seductive drink. There was a lot of seafood being made: uni, oysters, octopus, and caviar. While the cooks were hard at work, the judges were in the back chatting about what they considered to be sexy foods. One judge said spicy is not sexy and another judge stated, no dessert is seductive (I disagree) as these statements were being made the camera panned over to Lauren who was making a spicy octopus, something that she has never eaten much less ever cooked before. Then it pans over to Diane who is preparing a dessert. To me, dessert is very seductive, when Duane asked me what I thought is a sexy food and what would I make if I were competing; my answer was chocolate to both.

When it was time for the judges to reveal their favorite and least favorite spoons; Kristianne, Jeff, Paul, Diane, and Lauren stood before them. Which means that both Gregg and Sarah from Ludo’s team are safe and will be going to the finals. Kristianne said at the beginning of the show that her girlfriend found seafood to be a sexy meal; and so do Ludo, Malarkey, and Bourdain. All three judges chose her spoon as their favorite and she is the first contestant to receive three gold stars. Jeff received one gold star and one red star (sounds like Uno last week) Paul, Lauren, and Diane also receive red stars.

Here is where I got a little agitated. Nigella was very disappointed to see Diane in the bottom four and even though she chose Jeff’s spoon to be her favorite she argued in favor of keeping Diane. I would rather see Diane stay over Jeff but I thought the point of the blind taste test was to avoid being bias, oh well. When it was all said and done it was Lauren, Paul, and Jeff were sent home. I was a little surprised by the final four. I would never of thought Sarah was going to make it; I guess all of Ludo’s flirting was helpful. Next week is the finale and one contestant will leave in a Ford Hybrid and $100,000 richer.

My Prediction: Kristianne Uy

Tagged: ABC The Taste, Reality tv