The Mistake That Really Cost Darnell Ferguson The Tournament Of Champions
Food Network's show, Tournament of Champions, has seen many promising contestants compete against each other in a bid to win. One of the most interesting participants was Darnell Ferguson, a chef who came armed with an incredibly diverse background. According to Spoon University, Ferguson had a rough life before he became a known face on television. He was often homeless, living out of his car, trying to find ways out and make a life for himself.
What really helped him was cooking. Spoon University explains that in 2012, Ferguson came up with the idea of pop-up restaurants that served breakfast inside of eateries that typically only provided lunch and dinner to patrons. This is where Ferguson stepped in with his innovative breakfast ideas. He started his first eatery, SuperChefs, in 2015 and focused on offering unique menu items to his customers, food that was unapologetic and a mish-mash of classic and experimental flavors.
According to his website, he has also made multiple television appearances, featuring on shows like Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge, hosted by Giada De Laurentiis, and Tournament of Champions. While his performance was particularly impressive on Tournament of Champions, he didn't win in the end. Here's why.
It was one error that cost Ferguson the championship
According to Fansided, for one of the challenges, Darnell Ferguson prepared a Moroccan rubbed lamb with salsa. As far as the judges were concerned, the dish could have benefitted from more sauce and felt that it was too heavily focused on the lamb. But that wasn't what messed things up for Ferguson. It's the fact that he forgot to include the fried bread in his dish.
Basically, it's exactly what you think it is. Everything else was going just fine but the fact that Ferguson forgot such a simple and quintessential ingredient really did him in. If it weren't for this mistake, would've most likely beat his competitor, Amanda Freitag. At the time of being a participant, Ferguson expressed his excitement for the challenges (via Courier Journal). "The level of competition is the most intense I have ever been part of or seen on any cooking competition," he said. Talk about stressful!