Montreal chuck triumphant ‘Iron Chef ‘ with seafood as fixings
TORONTO— Montreal chef Chuck Hughes was torn when he saw Canadian lobster was the magic ingredient he had to be employed in his “Iron Chef America” battle against culinary superstar Bobby Flay.
While lobster is a staple at his cafe, Garde Crib, and he's got a large tattoo of the crustacean on his forearm as a tribute to his love for it, he also felt it may ruin his reputation if he lost the battle.
“When they revealed, ‘Lobster, ‘ I'm like: ‘Oh my God, are you serious?” ‘ Hughes, the suave star of TV’s “Chuck’s Day Off,” recalled in an interview.
“I have one tattooed on my arm. It’s my favourite food. It was nearly too much. It was like: ‘If I do not win, then do I need to cut my arm off? What will occur if I do not win? I'm a sham!” ‘
Thankfully , no amputation was necessary.
As spectators saw Sun. when the episode debuted on Food Network Canada, Hughes beat Flay by a score of 45-41 to become just the second Canadian chef to triumph in Kitchen Stadium. Vancouver’s Rob Feenie was the first, defeating Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto in 2005.
Hughes, 34, is also the first Canadian to beat the illustrious Flay and is the youngest Canuck and first Quebec chef to challenge on the programme.
“Now I feel a bit like the heat's on even more,” asserted Hughes, who had to keep his victory a secret till the episode aired here (it was broadcast in the U.S. Early on in the year).
“It’s kind of like now you want to measure up to the indisputable fact that you won.”
Hughes announced he's also received a large amount of interest from people in the U.S. Since the episode aired there.
“The reaction to that has been unbelievable…. It’s definitely been a superb positive experience for us.”
Hughes and his two sous chefs from Garde Manger, Jean-Francois Methot and James Baran, went into the hour-long cooking clash against Flay and his team last July in N. Y Town.
Hughes kept his menu in accordance with the comforting food he's known for: Lobster roll with a Bloody Caesar cocktail; lobster poutine; lobster and onion ring salad with carrot butter and avocado; lobster mushroom risotto; and jerk-spiced lobster.
Canadian spectators were doubtless elated to see Hughes make poutine, the fries, gravy and cheese curd dish that originated in Quebec.
But Iron Chef judges Stefan Gates, Karine Bakhoum and John T. Edge “hated it,” Hughes admitted.
The problem, he said, was the only cheese curds that were available in the Kitchen Stadium pantry were from New York and weren't nearly as good as the ones they use in Quebec.
“It’s fundamentally cheddar that they have sort of made to look like curds. It wasn't like the genuine, squeaky, chewy, toothsome curds that we're used to in Quebec,” he said.
“So they were dissing the curds and I was like: ‘Ya! They suck! I know!” ‘
Hughes, who makes lobster poutine, lobster rolls and lobster risotto at his cafe, declared he believed he had no option but to go with poutine.
“It’s absolutely not what you might think for ‘Iron Chef, ‘ but I could not go there and not do it.”
Hughes declared the judges also felt that his first dish, the Caesar cocktail, had too much vodka in it. The early negative feedback made him deterred and put him in a “downward spiral,” he said.
Toronto native Kevin Brauch, the show’s “floor newshound” who also hosts the series “The Parched Traveler,” noticed Hughes was down and pulled him aside for a pep talk before he presented his 3rd dish.
“He’s like: ‘Dude, what are you doing? Get up there and own that. You tell them. You tell them what’s good,” ‘ declared Hughes. “He lifted my spirits.”
Hughes recounted Flay also appeared to have issues during the battle.
“Honestly, I think it went really badly on Bobby Flay’s side that day, which had plenty to do with us winning as well. I couldn't truly see what was going on but I could hear a lot of yelling,” he announced.
“I could hear him telling his sous chefs: ‘No, this is no good, redo this.” ‘
Hughes was also feeling the heat and had to change his sweaty shirt during the battle.
His sous chefs, he claimed, were “absolutely extraordinary under the pressure,” and the victory created a special bond between them.
“I never even went in thinking that we'd presumably win. I just needed to perform. For us, putting up five dishes that we were pleased with and five dishes we could stand behind, that was winning for us,” he revealed.
“Everything else is just gravy. “.