I have a secret!

I’ve been a little too occupied to blog about the WNC Chefs Challenge (www.ashevillewineandfood.com) at the Flying Frog Café (www.flyingfrogcafe.com) and have felt that I was a little too close to the competition to give an objective viewpoint. After all, I am the person responsible for it happening, the Master of Ceremonies, the person bringing the chefs together and the only person who knows all the secret ingredients!

The Secret Ingredient! Why is the secret ingredient so important? In the WNC Chefs Challenge, the secret ingredient is the most important criteria when judging the dish. It is essential to the selection of complementary ingredients and the preparation of all six dishes. It is the challenge for both teams of chefs that evening. It is essential to proving that the chefs are masters of visual, smell, taste, and plating of their presentations for the audience each evening.

The twelve secret ingredients used in this competition were chosen at random from a possible pool of over 250 secret ingredients that have been used in previous Iron Chef Competitions. So why were these twelve secret ingredients chosen? Quite simply, they were chosen based upon several simple qualifications. First, they must be local, sustainable, and part of our regional heritage. Regional heritage encompasses southeastern states, their sea coasts the piedmonts, and the mountains. Secondly, the secret ingredient must be easily incorporated into six plates. Imagine choosing anchovies. Just think of six dishes incorporating anchovies! It might work, but…..not for me! Thirdly, the secret ingredient must be distinguishable to your smell and taste when judging each dish. While anchovies might work, would tofu?

For the first competition, the secret ingredient was coffee. Locally-roasted by the Brown Bean Coffee Roasters in Hendersonville (www.thebrownbean.com) , it has a very distinguished taste and is easily incorporated in a dessert, as a rub, as a liquid, or as an ingredient. The only problem with coffee was that most of us stayed awake until the wee hours the following morning!

The second competition’s secret ingredient was honey. I really had a difficult time finding local honey. Why, you might ask? This is simply too early in the season for honey. I called everywhere, the Ag Dept, the Extension Service, the WNC Beekeepers (www.wncbees.org), and individual producers. Sold out! Not the Season! Too Early! I heard it all. Fortunately, I managed to locate three gallons of wonderful local honey from Haw Creek Honey (www.wncbees.org/Vendors.cfm) at Greenlife Grocery (www.greenlifegrocery.com). I apologize if I took all the gallons they had, but I really needed the honey. If you have read the blogs, you know it was worth it: the honey dishes were fantastic!

Now, the third challenge is Tuesday. I have already secured the secret ingredient. It is local, easy to incorporate into food, and has a great taste. It is………….!

Guess you will have to wait to find out. I’ll write about it in future blogs, but I suggest that you consider getting yourself a seat as soon as possible, as many of these events are going fast. It could be because of the secret ingredient, or it could just be because it is so much fun!