Gulf Coast Chef Crowned American Seafood King
With a grin on his face, a crown on his head and grease on his sleeves, Chef John Currence, representing the state of Mississippi, emerged from a crowd of fifteen top chefs to be crowned the King of American Seafood at the 2008 Great American Seafood Cook-Off. His dish of North Mississippi Courtboullion with Seafood Dirty Rice clinched the victory. “I really enjoyed the Cook-Off,” said Currence. “Competing with the other chefs over two days, I met so many people I enjoyed being around. It was remarkably devoid of egos. The camaraderie may be the best thing about it.”
The competition for the coveted title was held over two days, August 2nd and 3rd, at New Orleans’ Morial Convention Center. Each state was represented by a chef who either won his state’s Seafood Cook-Off, or was appointed by his state’s governor. The chefs were required to use fresh seafood from their state as the main ingredient.
This was the fifth annual Great American Seafood Cook-Off and the best so far, according to Harlon Pearce, Chairman of the Board of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, the producer of the event. “The purpose of the Cook-Off is to showcase our exceptional domestic seafood and to showcase the talents of our finest chefs,” said Pearce. As someone who wears his bias toward Louisiana chefs proudly, Pearce was quick to point out that Chef Currence was actually born in New Orleans, and “we just lent him out to Mississippi.”
The top-level sponsors of the Cook-Off were NOAA and FishWatch (a division of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, which oversees our nation’s fisheries. FishWatch’s website provides consumers with information on sustainable seafood), Michelob Brewing Company, Shell, Southwest Airlines, and Southwest Cargo. Next year’s Cook-Off is already being planned, and according to Pearce it will be “bigger and better than ever.”
The Gulf coast was well represented in this year’s Cook-Off. Mississippi sent the winner, Chef Currence, from the City Grocery Restaurant Group in Oxford, and his assistant, Chef Heath Johnson. Texas sent Mark Holley of Pesce Restaurant in Houston, assisted by William Thompson, while Louisiana sent Brian Landry from Galatoire’s Restaurant in New Orleans, assisted by Chef Heather Young, and Florida sent Andre Bienvenu of Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami Beach, assisted by Chefs Andy Saint Agnes and Hector Lopez.
The Master of Ceremonies was Chef John Besh, the 2004 King of American Seafood, and the James Beard Award winner for Best Chef of the Southeast in 2006. Besh founded four of New Orleans’ finest restaurants, Restaurant August, Besh Steak, Lüke and La Provence. Restaurant August was one of the first restaurants to reopen after hurricane Katrina, and has been named as one of the top 50 restaurants in the nation by Gourmet magazine.
Day one of the Cook-Off saw all fifteen chefs preparing a seafood dish of their choice. The starting time for each chef to begin cooking was staggered, with a new chef starting every fifteen minutes. The judges therefore received a new dish every fifteen minutes; this ensured each entry was still piping hot when it was judged. Each chef had an hour and a half to complete the dish, plate it and present it to the judges. Marc Jones, a fishing industry consultant, was the Timekeeper; an enforcer who kept a stopwatch on each competitor so no one went over an hour and a half. The tension was visible on the chefs’ faces as the clock ticked down while they scrambled to pull everything together. Several chefs’ sighs of relief were audible to the crowd when they finished in the nick of time.
Chef Besh kept the large crowd entertained with his sharp wit and good-natured taunting of the competitors. He would hover near the chefs who were on the clock, looking over their shoulders and describing the actions to the crowd. His explanations of how a chef was preparing a dish were both enlightening and hilarious. At one point, he tried to instigate a trash talking battle between the chefs from North Carolina and Kansas, but neither chef fell for his taunts, preferring to laugh along with the crowd at the obvious ploy.
Besh, being a Louisiana native, played up the hometown advantage enjoyed by New Orleans native Brian Landry of Galatoire’s, who took second place in the Cook-Off. Friends and family of Landry were numerous and vocal. Did the supporters help, or did that just put more pressure on Landry? “Oh, they definitely helped. Knowing they were here to support me made me more relaxed,” said Landry.
The chefs prepared a plate for each of the six judges, two more plates for a display area that allowed the crowd a close look, and another plate for media tasting backstage. (Being in the media has its moments).
The judges had the envious job of tasting each of the fifteen dishes. They also had the not so envious job of picking five dishes as the best of the day. The top five were determined on a points system, where each dish was given a numeric grade. Those five chefs were the finalists, and returned on day two to battle each other for the title.
At the end of day one, with all the chefs onstage, the finalists were announced. Three of the five were Gulf Coasters: Currence, Holley and Landry. The other two were Tafari Campbell, two-time winner of the Maryland Seafood Cook-Off, from the Chevy Chase Club, and Paul Anders of Colorado, from Sweet Basil Restaurant in Vail.
Chef Andre Bienvenu from Joe’s Stone Crab, whose first day dish featured Florida lobster, stone crab and shrimp, was disappointed he didn’t make the final cut, but said he has learned, after competing in many cook-offs, “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. You just have to have fun.” There was a miscommunication on the rules about when he could send his plate to the judges, “So my lobster ended up being overcooked. The judges said everything else was great.”
One comment heard over and over from the chefs was how well everyone got along. “I enjoyed all the chefs around me. Everyone was very polite, very respectful. No one bragged about how great they were,” said Bienvenu.
Day two had a different format. The chefs were split into two groups. The finalists were on one side of the arena, while the remaining ten chefs were on the other.
While the finalists were cooking up their entries on day two, the other ten chefs returned and gave the crowd a treat. Each chef cooked up a dish that was served to the audience. Dishes from Alaska razor clams to Florida snapper and stone crab were generously dished out to all who wanted. Day two also started with Chef Besh bringing out another M.C. to accompany him, Charmaine Neville, head of the Charmaine Neville Band, and member of New Orleans’ legendary first family of funk, the Nevilles. Charmaine regaled the audience with her down home New Orleans stories and her folksy charm.
On the other side of the auditorium, the five finalists had to prepare a home-style dish that was both nutritious and practical for any home-cook to prepare. In addition, there was an Iron Chef type element: mystery ingredients not revealed to the chefs until immediately before the start of day two’s cooking. The mystery ingredients to be used were as follows: a choice of one of three different Michelob beers, and peanuts (in honor of sponsor Southwest Airlines, of course).
Chef Holley was the first chef up. He decided on cooking Texas Gulf shrimp deglazed with tequila, with tomato relish, prickly pear gastrique, black beans, and hominy arepas.
Next up was Chef Landry, who assembled a Shrimp and Andouille Cassoulet, using Louisiana shrimp and andouille sausage, which was smothered in a white bean casserole.
Following was Chef Campbell, who presented Pan Roasted Glazed Rockfish with Peas and Carrots, which included a sauce combining veal sauce, red wine and mushrooms.
Chef Currence then made his North Mississippi Courtboullion with Seafood Dirty Rice, using fresh Gulf shrimp, Mississippi redfish, and Gulf crabmeat.
The final entry was Chef Anders’ creation of Colorado Striped Bass Panzanella with crispy eggplant.
Each of the dishes was gorgeously presented (and mighty tasty). Each of the finalists’ score from their day two dish was combined with the score from day one to decide the King of American Seafood. In the end, Chef Currence’s Courtboullion carried the day, making him the 2008 King of American Seafood. He was presented with a crown worthy of his title, which was placed upon his head by Chef Besh. The crown proved to be a little awkward, as it kept trying to fall off. Chef Currence tried to take it off and just hold it by his side, but each time he did, the crown was immediately placed back atop his head by the other chefs or the admiring audience. Such are the burdens of royalty!
