Hell's Kitchen XX + X

Episode 4, Part 1: The Protein Identification Challenge

          The remaining 12 contestants from the Blue and Red Team were woken up early by Sous Chefs Christina and Jockey. Groggily, they got dressed in their jackets and trudged down the stairs to face a new challenge in Hell's Kitchen.

          "Right, good morning, everybody!" Gordon greeted them, lightly bouncing on the balls of his feet.

          The chefs were a bit weirded out by the Chef's unusually happy demeanour, but who were they to complain? "Good morning, Chef Ramsay."

          "Where's X?" Heidi looked around for her.

          "She will be running a bit late. X is currently in a photoshoot for Cook's Illustrated magazine." Everyone looked at each other. Yet another one of the perks of being chef-to-beat is the exposure the chef gets, either through television, magazine, radio or social media. Said exposure is extremely essential if the chef wants to have a very successful career. "She'll be joining us later, but for now, I have for you a challenge that has put a lot of previous contestants in a stitch."

          Jockey and Jean-Philippe comes out rolling a long trolley with six silver food domes on top. "Oh god, it's the Protein Identification Challenge!" Michelle groaned. It's been almost a decade since she has eaten meat, or any protein for that matter. She got along so far by putting the food in her mouth and spitting it back out, just to taste her dish. This is going to be a long day for her.

          "Correct!" Gordon grinned devilishly and unveiled two shelves behind him, holding every protein imaginable. There was chicken, beef, alligator, veal, boar, salmon, cod, tuna, shrimp, and so much more. There were at least fifty plates neatly arrayed on the shelves. "Now, Blue Team, since there are still 7 of you, one of you has to sit out. And Red Team, since you are one member short, decide who gets to do the challenge twice. You all have two minutes to decide, starting now."

          Immediately, they huddled into their teams, trying to pick the strongest and weakest player for their respective teams. "I can go twice." Kimberly volunteered. "I'm good with identifying proteins." The other women agreed and got settled.

          The men however looked at one another, daring the other to step down first. "I ain't backing down, man." Damian was the first to speak. "I know my way around meats and fish more than any other chef here." The others were slightly taken aback by the bold statement, but nodded nonetheless.

          "And a true Texan knows his meat so I'm definitely in the running." Ben seconded then looked to Baron. "How about you, ginger?"

          Baron, huffed and crossed his arms. "I'm not gonna pass up on this challenge, no sir."

          "Come on, men! Decide!" Gordon hollered from across them, signalling the time for decision is about to end. If they don't come to a consensus, chances are Chef Gordon is gonna have their asses handed to them.

          "I'll back down." Calvin said finally. He knew that they were all strong chefs, but he can't deny that the others have the slight edge when it comes to palate and variety.

          Once the players were decided, Gordon proceeded to explain the rules. "So each chef needs to identify the protein under their assigned domes in relay, meaning one has to finish with the correct answer before the next chef can start. The team with the shortest time in finishing all six proteins wins! So Blue Team, since you guys won the dinner service last time, will you go first, or last?"

          "Ladies first, Chef." Samuel said after getting inputs from his teammates.

          "Right, Christina, take the men to the pantry for the mean time, please darling. Thank you." The Sous chef gave the men head phones with loud music and took them to inside the Blue Kitchen's walk-in pantry, shutting the door behind them. "Ladies, your time, starts...Now!"