Iron Chef IV Event

First, I’d like to give a big appreciation to Kevin N. for thinking of me for this event. Kevin called me a few weeks ago, telling me that he had something he thought I’d be interested in… Would I be interested in representing Unilocal as a «celebrity» judge for the Alamo’s 4^th Iron Chef event?
Are you kidding? HELL yes. I can’t remember the last time I was that flattered.
I showed up last night to find that I would be judging, along with Rob Balon (
), Virginial Wood (the Chronicle food editor), and Claudia Alarcn (also of the Chronicle). Talk about good company! Wow! To be considered with those guys is quite an honor.
The movie was The Lady Eve, an old Preston Sturges comedy starring Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda. The chefs were John Bullington, Trish Eichelberger and Elijah Horgan of the Alamo against Chef Lawrence Kocurek of Roys. The judging consisted of flavor, presentation and relevance, relevance being the relevance of the dish to the movie.
It was incredibly creative! If you’ve seen the movie, then you’ll understand the references of the dishes. If not, go rent it! It’s a really funny movie.
There were 8 dishes in all (4 from each chef) and wines to go with each course, picked by Claudia Alarcn. Her picks were fantastic and really paired well with each course, especially the Kava (sp?) at the end. That was new for me and something I’ll definitely be consuming again.
My favorite tasting dish of the evening was by Lawrence Kocurek of Roy’s. It was Snake River Farms Kobe Beef Tataki with Orange Apricot «Pikes Ale» sauce and Poached Pigeon Egg. First, it was a great reference to the movie. Second, holy CRAP. That was seriously one of the best dishes I’ve ever eaten in my life. The meat was like… a cloud in my mouth.
No, I kid. It was so perfect though. The perfect ratio of fat to meat, falling apart as it had been cooked for 48 hours. The sauce was perfect as the citrus cut through the richness of the fat. It was served on top of a purée of potato that I couldn’t quite pinpoint, but knew I wanted more of. And I’m obsessed lately with egg yolk, so cutting into the poached egg (actually a quail egg I believe, the pigeon was a film reference), and having it run onto the meat… Oh God. I have to stop now.
The Alamo team did a great reference to the beginning of the film with a rattlesnake and apple dish. The rattlesnake was confitted (is that a word?) in duck fat. F* me. I don’t know if I could honestly make a decision as to pork fat v. duck fat. Both make me swoon. Any misgivings I may have had about rattlesnake being tough and stringy were erased by cooking it in duck fat. Good God.
Chef Kocurek’s Rose Scented Ice Cream with Tart Lemon Bar (another fantastic reference to the film) was a phenomenal dessert. While I didn’t really pick up on the rose of the ice cream, the lemon bar and accompanying sauce of berries was perfect in flavor and texture and I’d love to have it again.
There were many other courses, but I’m being long-​winded here and those were the three that stuck out the most to me.
All of us judges were given mics to talk about the food we had eaten and the way it played with the film. Honestly, all the food was so good that it was hard to criticize. (Of course, I left my notes sitting on the table and I’m sure the chefs have had a good laugh at my critiques, no matter how illegible and disjointed they might be.) In the end, Chef Lawrence Kocurek of Roy’s was declared the winner.
All-​in-​all, it was a great time, for a great cause (the proceeds went to the Capital Area Food Bank), and I’d love to do it again, either as a judge or just a spectator. Thanks so much to Kevin N. and Tim L. of the Alamo for showing me such a great time!
(I’ll probably post more about this on my blog later this weekend, with a little more critique of all of the dishes.)