Iron Chef competition comes to MU
The event was inspired by Trading Spaces earlier this year.
Published Feb. 16, 2007
Fans of the Food Network TV show Iron Chef got to see the Residence Halls Association's take on the show Thursday night with the Mizzou Iron Chef Competition.
"Iron Chef America is by far my favorite television show," junior Kevin Arendt said. "Seeing this is really cool."
Marc Johnson, an assistant professor of molecular microbiology and immunology, also came to watch in part due to a love for the show.
"I'm a big fan of Iron Chef," he said. "I thought I'd see what they were doing."
Freshman Adam Laws also came because he likes the show. But after tasting some of the food from one of the teams, Laws had something to say to Campus Dining Services: "I kind of wish we could get this in the dining halls."
The competition was comprised of four teams. Each team had three students, none of whom could be studying hotel and restaurant management.
"They're just regular students," RHA President Justin Ginter said.
A chef also helped each team from Campus Dining Services, each from a different dining hall.
Ginter said the event was inspired by the Trading Spaces program conducted earlier this year.
"We did Trading Spaces last semester, Mizzou's version of Trading Spaces, and it went over very well," he said. "And it seemed like it was very popular. A lot of the students were interested because it was giving students who lived in the residence halls a chance to get involved and do something fun."
Ginter said he is happy with Thursday's event.
"We are ecstatic with the turnout," he said. "This is just amazing."
Ginter said the event was strategically placed on Thursday night, so it would also serve as a way to promote the election results for his successor. The RHA presidential election took place today in the residence halls. The winner of the election will be announced tomorrow night at the Res Hall Ball.
After an hour of cooking, the team known as the 4 Amigos won. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Cathy Scroggs, who was a judge, mentioned the team's dessert as their best food.
"I thought their presentation was very good," she said. "They had some unique flavors. Their dessert was really a surprise when you bit into it."
The dessert was a chocolate ganache. It featured pan-fried sweet potatoes with cinnamon sugar. It also had raspberries with cream and dark chocolate.
The team's campus chef, Clint Eastin, who works at Rollins Dining Hall, said the dessert was the simplest of the team's dishes.
"We just kind of went outside the box," Eastin said. "What can we do with potatoes to make a dessert? And that's just chocolate and raspberries and sweet potatoes? It was the simplest thing we did all night."
Team member Steve Monson, a sophomore majoring in food science and nutrition, said the chemistry he has with teammates sophomores Dallas Schepers and Philip Makarewicz was the key factor in the victory.
"We always get along really well because we're three best friends," he said. "We can yell at each other, and nobody really gets mad. We just do what needs to be done."
Although some of the competitors said they have a hard time keeping up with their cooking at school, Monson makes it work.
"I'm one of the few people that cooks in the dorm, so they always call me 'cook boy,'" he said. "I experiment downstairs. Everyone always thinks I'm going to burn the place down, but I seem to work it out on those electric ovens."
Before the results were announced, Eastin said he was happy about the team's talents.
"I think these guys rock," he said. "Never having met these guys before today, we all four worked together and put out four really good courses."
Steve Simpson, the associate director of Campus Dining Services, said the idea was something that Campus Dining Services had been considering for a long time. So when Ginter came to pitch the idea, it was excellent.
"It was just a perfect timing of coming together," Simpson said.
For Simpson, the event serves as good publicity for his team.
"It shows off the skill and the ability that the Campus Dining Services culinary team has," he said.
Executive Chef Eric Cartwright said the evening was a success, and he felt comfortable saying it would become an annual event. He said the competition was very tough and that the 4 Amigos won by only one point, a sign that all four teams did good work.
"The food speaks for itself," he said. "The work they did was just fantastic."