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"Our ultimate competition is with ourselves. That is what my uncle told me when I would visit him as a young boy... My uncle, the man the world knows as Kaga the Chairman, has decided that, although America is a young country, we now possess the proper palate to host our own Iron Chef competition, an American celebration of the world's high art of cuisine." Recaps by Chico Alexander, GSNN
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Zakarian vs. Sawyer: Battle Mint The Challenger: Chef Jonathon Sawyer heads the kitchen of the Greenhouse Tavent and Noodlecat in Cleveland. He dropped out of engineering school to enroll into culinary school. He not only specializes in farm-to-plate tip-to-tail cooking, but he learned and propagated the idea that the proximity to the soil from the restaurant, the better quality of ingredient. He's been souschef on ICA before, having worked under Iron Chef Symon, but today, his quality cuisine will be up against that of New York City bistro baron, the newest Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian, who'll be located in Stadium Right, while Sawyer will cook Stadium Left. Prepare for battle.
The Theme Ingredient: chocolate, orange, apple, peppermint, spearmint, and other varieties of mint.
The Rules:
Each chef must create a five-course
meal, with each course utilizing the theme ingredients, within 60
minutes. The judges will score the dishes on a 20-point scale: 10 points
taste, 5 points plating and presentation, 5 points creativity and use of
ingredient. The chef that best articulates the theme ingredient through
their dishes wins. And Battle Mint is on in KSA. Mint is literally used by every major cuisine on planet earth. There are about 600 different varieties, the most commonly used of which is spearmint, which goes in everything from gum to ice cream. Zakarian is starting out with a bit of a pesto, while Sawyer is grilling oxtail and marrow. Way too much connective tissue there, he's probably going to get some color on that before putting them in the pressure cooker. On a pot, some pinot noir and a lot of spices. He's also making a stew, but how will the mint fare? Looks like both sides will have a dessert. Sawyer's starting on a semi-freddo on an anti-griddle. Meanwhile, he's also grinding a frozen calamari. Zakarian's strategy today: avoid the obvious. He's thinking very light, "cocktail hour in the south of France". Sawyer's calamari is going into the immersion circulator for a sous vide. Sawyer is cutting out a hamachi collar. "Fifteen minutes have elapsed." Time to meet... Tonight's Judges... Sawyer is carving a goat leg, clams, calamari, and some lardo from the mangalitsa pork. Could be a sausage. Zakarian has duck breasts, langoustines, and... that's it in terms of meat. Meanwhile, Brian is coagulating a milk/lemon verbena mixture into a cheese, while Zakarian is making a gnudi, which is like a gnocchi except without the potato and with more flour. It'll bring out the aromatic qualities of the mint. And there's also a pot of creme de menthe with sugar. "Thirty minutes have elapsed." Let's catch up. Sawyer has a lot of protein, and he's trying to balance it out with a lot of mint. Zakarian has thin slices of mango, langoustine cooked in mint sugar, and Sawyer's starting to build a cocktail... for Kevin and Alton. It's a gin fizz with mint. Bottoms up. "Fifteen minutes to go." And the dirt that Sawyer made at the top of battle... is now gone. Knocked over on the pan. Other than that, it's a race to start plating. Let's catch up. More chocolate dirt is quickly created, a waffle is created for a mint ice cream sandwich, and ravioli is finished in truffle & mint sauce. They're also plating their fritter, corn, and salad appetizer trio. Zakarian is making a crudite platter, a riff on a bagna cauda, and the dessert that Alex was finishing on, a parfait. Zakarian has an endive with grapes, gnudi, and a green tea mixture with the parfait, that's three. Sawyer has the ravioli, the oxtail, the stew, the pot pie, and the mint trio from earlier. And of course, mint ice cream sandwich. "One minute to go." Langoustine, parfait, duck breast, gnudi, and crudite. Both chefs have five dishes. Now it's all about the five for plating. "Five seconds... Three... two... one... " That's time. Put it down and walk away, Battle Mint is in the books. TASTING & JUDGMENT Sawyer: "What we like to is use the mint top-to-bottom, tip-to-tail." - Mint Hors d'Oeuvre Trio Zakarian: "I tried to use each mint for its floral capability in each course." - Crudite with Mint Bagna Cauda Sawyer's dishes were very fresh, very colorful, but the mint could have used more presence. The mint explodes in the pasta. The best dish for him: the oxtail. Zakarian's dishes were natural, elemental, and greater than the overall sum of its parts. But overall, the courses went from great to just good. Good doesn't win battles on ICA. Whose cuisine reigns supreme? The verdict...
... 49-40 in favor of Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian. A hit of the sweet minty aroma of success for the newest Iron Chef, as he sweeps the category. Until next battle, we bid you good eating. To see this episode in its entirety, go to www.foodnetwork.com/ica. |
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