FLORIDA CHEF DEAN MAX CROWNED ‘KING OF AMERICAN SEAFOOD’ at National Cook-Off in New Orleans
Alabama Chef Captures Second, Maine and New Jersey Chefs Tie For Third
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NEW ORLEANS, August 7, 2010 — America’s finest chefs showed their skills in seafood preparation today at the 2010 Great American Seafood Cook-Off, held in New Orleans for the seventh straight year. The event, which has featured both up-and-coming and celebrity chefs over the years, underscored the importance of cooking with domestic seafood and encouraged the use of products from sustainable fisheries.
Chef Dean Max of 3030 Ocean at Marriott Harbor Beach and Spa Resort in Fort Lauderdale, FL was crowned “King of American Seafood.” Alabama’s Wesley True of True Restaurant in Mobile, AL captured second prize, while Maine chef Mackenzie Arrington of Morrison’s Maine Course in Portland, ME and New Jersey’s Peter Fischbach of Gourmet Dining Services at NJIT in Newark, NJ tied for third.
Emmy-winning wildlife conservationist Jeff Corwin, host of Animal Planet’s Jeff Corwin Experience and Food Network’s Extreme Cuisine co-hosted the Cook-Off with Chef John Folse, who is often recognized as Louisiana’s Culinary Ambassador to the World.
Earlier this year, Great American Seafood Cook-Off organizers invited all 50 states to hold a state qualifying round or appoint a chef to compete in Saturday’s competition at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, during the Louisiana Foodservice Expo.
The cook-off featured 14 teams, each preparing a domestic-seafood dish that reflected the cuisine of their home state. Judges representing the top echelon of the culinary arts crowned the King of American Seafood 2010. Last year, Chef Tory McPhail of Commander’s Palace in New Orleans won with his Creole Mixed Seafood Grill, and was on-hand to pass the crown to this year’s winner.
Chef Max’s winning dish was Sebastian Inlet Clams BBLT (bacon, basil, lettuce, and tomato). Earning second place was Chef True’s Gulf Shrimp Two Ways with jumbo lump crab, salad of local yellow watermelon, martini olive, cucumbers and heirloom tomatoes with macadamia coconut puree. The third-place tie went to Chef Arrington’s Pan Seared North Atlantic Red Crab Cakes with Citrus Aioli, Roasted Red Pepper Coulis, and Micro Okra and Tangerine Greens and to Chef Fischbach’s “Jersey Coast,” a trio of Jersey-caught lobster, black bass and sea scallop.
NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service is the event’s chief sponsor and uses the cook-off to highlight to American seafood consumers the agency’s management of the Nation’s marine ecosystems. “NOAA Fisheries is proud to sponsor the Great American Seafood Cookoff,” said Eric Schwaab, Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries Service. “We strongly support America’s fishing industry as a source of sustainable, healthy and safe seafood.”
“The Great American Seafood Cook-Off is a showcase for both the chefs and American seafood, and is an exciting way to educate consumers about the importance of sustainable seafood at the market and in restaurants,” said Ewell Smith, executive director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board and executive producer of the Cook Off. “Many of our competing states have been affected by the Gulf Oil Spill, which makes this year’s cook-off even more important. It is a celebration of domestic seafood, the fishermen who catch it and the talented chefs who use it to create award winning dishes.”
Fourteen contenders for the title flew in from across the nation to represent their home states : Alabama, Wesley True; Alaska, Al Levinsohn; Idaho, Randy King; Florida, Dean Max; Illinois, Greg Volle, Kentucky, Jeremy Ashby; Louisiana, Chris Lusk; Maine, Mackenzie Arrington; Mississippi, Vishwesh Bhatt; New Jersey, Peter J. Fischbach; North Carolina, Bud Gruninger; Oregon, Woojay Poynter; Texas, Paul Lewis; West Virginia, Ed Fischer.
Prior winners of the Great American Seafood Cook Off have included Tory McPhail of Commander’s Palace in New Orleans; John Currence of City Grocery in Oxford, MS; Tim Thomas of the Ocean Forest Golf Club in Sea Island, GA; Justin Timineri, Executive Chef for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; Randy Evans of Brennan’s of Houston, and John Besh of Restaurant August in New Orleans.
2010 Great American Seafood Cook Off sponsors include NOAA and FishWatch, Michelob Brewing Company, Whole Foods Market, Tabasco, Loubat Food Service Equipment, Louisiana Restaurant Association and the Royal Sonesta New Orleans hotel. Acknowledgement is also in order to the supportive seafood organizations; the National Fisheries Institute, Gulf and South Atlantic Fisheries Foundation, Jones Seafood Solutions, Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. A special thanks also to media sponsors, Culinary Concierge, Gulfscapes Magazine, Louisiana Cookin’ and Louisiana Public Broadcasting.
For more information, visit online at www.GreatAmericanSeafoodCookoff.com.
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