Ancestry, family, and tradition served up on Top Chef

In episode 12 of Top Chef All-Stars, Give me Your Huddled Masses, the main ingredients in each of the chef's dishes were ancestry, family, and tradition. The episode's quickfire challenge had the all-stars chefing up dishes on the ferry to New York's Ellis Island where millions of immigrants took their first steps towards new lives in America. The chefs were then surprised by visits from their family bearing genealogy portfolios filled with stories and historical records of their forerunners. Thus, for the elimination challenge, the chefs were challenged to create dishes inspired by the rich and diverse history of their own families. Family members joined the judges for the dinner service and by the end of the episode, everyone had shed a tear - or a few - from all the inspiring stories.

We may be big fans of all the science, design, and culture shaping the future here at Future-ish, but we are even bigger fans of honoring the past, our ancestors, and the many traditions that are all about "embracing the past and moving into the future" as Gail put it.