"Top Chef" Part I Trivia Quiz

Answer: umeboshi plum

This was my favorite challenge from season 1, since it was universally difficult for all of the contestants. Andrea is seen accurately identifying umeboshi plum, and her knowledge of this ingredient is acknowledged by Lee Anne upon the announcement of her win.

Answer: Meatloaf

That meatloaf did look quite foul, and her creativity was somewhat stunted by the dish she was preparing.

Answer: Katie Lee Joel

Katie Lee Joel was the host of season 1, and is the wife of musician Billy Joel. Unfortunately, her participation on camera appeared to be quite lacking in genuine delivery; she was replaced by Padma in season 2, and I must say, I adore Padma.

Answer: Voysey's

Voysey's is actually a restaurant he owns in South Carolina.

Answer: Otto

Otto was eliminated in the second episode of the second season, after the drama over a case of lychees they had taken from the store and not paid for.

Answer: Catherine O'Hara

Debi Mazar was in the second season's "Seven Deadly Sins" challenge, while Jennifer Coolidge hosted the luncheon for the "Leftovers" challenge in season 2. Lorraine Bracco was a judge in the finale dinner in season 1, after having contributed several bottles from her wine company Bracco Wines.

Answer: Laurent Manrique

Each of the chefs listed were featured as guest judges on the show, but Laurent Manrique, proprietor and executive chef of Aqua restaurant in San Francisco was featured in the octopus challenge.

Answer: molecular gastronomy

Molecular gastronomy relies much more on the chemistry of food preparation and innovative techniques rather than strictly on classical flavors and methods.

Answer: Michael

Betty's meringue cookies and the extra teaspoons of sugar she used caused considerable drama. She claimed to be unaware of that stipulation in the rules, while everyone else said they were aware of the rules and chose to remain silent until judging.

Answer: Casey

This was one part of Casey's many wins on "Top Chef." I was rooting for her up until the end.

Answer: Vanilla Love

It was quite humorous when they worked together. They were extremely hyper and in the creative zone with their dishes, which led to them being called out as one of the top two teams.

Answer: boiling water

Casey reiterated the difficulty in maintaining and acquiring a running boil for her water. This increased the stress level exponentially, although Hung used the electric heaters featured in the finale quickfire and seemed to experience fewer problems.

Answer: Penguin

This was a great challenge, albeit rather odd considering they were creating food based on the diets of wild animals. However, it was a true opportunity to think outside of the box and create something innovative with the foods they were given. Andrew's glacier was a great touch and was executed using special ingredients and molecular gastronomy techniques.

Answer: spinach

This was the first challenge of season 2, with the chefs being in two different teams and having to create a dish that included all of he ingredients in their mystery box. Elia was by far the most amusing, as she ended up creating a fantastic dish, but griped about having to use the 'American cheese,' which she described as "this funky product, that shouldn't even exist."

Answer: False

The title of the book is "The Food You Want to Eat," and it is mentioned numerous times when announcing his presence on an episode.