At this year’s Kitchen Stadium, Loyola’s student organizations brought the love – and the trophy – home.
The Loyola Asian Student Organization’s 2008 Iron Chef Competition March 27 pumped with adrenaline as six student organizations competed in an hour-long cook-off for bragging rights, a large trophy and the chance to appear on WWL Channel 4 on April 4 at 5:30 p.m. to remake the winning dish live.
The judges included celebrity chef John Besh, Vatsana Chantala and Chef Vinny Bruno.
Judges evaluated teams on a point system, which awarded 25 points for presentation, 50 points for taste and 25 points for creativity. Each team had to include coconut, the special ingredient for this year’s competition, in all dishes. LASO told teams the ingredient four days before the competition, but teams had to create their dinners at the event.
Although the judges said each team showed “creativity and excellence” in one or more of its dishes, which included appetizers, entrees, desserts, and a few fine liquors, it was Loyola’s Black Student Union that took home the winning prize. Loyola’s Muslim Student Association came in second place, and Xavier’s Asian American Association came in third.
Besh said that when it came down to it, his decision was based on which team put the most passion into its dishes.
“When I walked around and observed the dishes being made, I could tell right away who would get my vote,” he said. “The teams that put passion into it, that bent over their pots and got intimate with their creations, those are the ones that turned out with the best dishes. I watched (BSU) do that, and they didn’t have one bad dish. That was who I had to go with.”
Besh had positive feedback after tasting Team BSU’s meal, which included coconut sauteed shrimp and mango salsa dressing, glazed salmon with mango sauce, coconut couscous and vegetables, and tropical fruit and coconut custard.
“That’s love,” he said. “I thought I knew what love was, and then I tasted this.”
Besh also said he appreciated Team MSA’s Eastern-inspired dishes.
“They went into this serious, they stuck to their guns and cooked what they were used to,” he said.
“A lot of other teams cooked more Western dishes, which was disappointing because there are so many ways you can work coconut into Eastern meals. But (MSA) cooked food from the heart.”
The other judges also had many comments after tasting the dinners, which included delicacies like bananas foster, crawfish ravioli, cayenne-peppered fudge, and chicken and coconut waffles.
Bruno agreed with Besh on the winning meal. “The appetizer, the entree, everything was amazing,” he said.
Bruno was also impressed with the many teams’ daring and sheer know-how.
“This is amazing,” he said.
“I had no idea it would be so much fun, or that these kids could come out here and make such advanced dishes. I’ve worked with some chefs who don’t know everything these kids know. They are really delivering it.”
Unlike competitions in years past, this year’s competition received publicity and community support, thanks to the efforts of LASO’s executive board under the direction of President Juley Thuy Le. Le said her e-board got Besh involved by chance, and after that, the support just started flowing in.
“Trai Nguyen, LASO member and team competitor, happened to see Chef Besh eating in a restaurant in New Orleans and told him what we are all about and what we do,” she said.
“He was so nice, and he immediately agreed to judge. We set it all up through his publicist, and as soon as we put him in, the donations started pouring in from everyone. We got so many sponsors. Think Tank Productions provided us with the giveaways … restaurants Tan Dinh, Hipstix, and Mikimoto donated the concessions. We owe them a lot.”
Le said that Iron Chef was able to attract big media attention this year not only because of Besh’s presence, but also due to the efforts of James Shields, communications coordinator from Loyola Public Affairs.
“He submitted our event a month ago and had it put on a press release,” she said.
“After that, we got attention from the Times-Picayune, from WWL … everyone. It was great, and with Chef Besh’s promise to be a part of it next year, we can only move forward from here. He is really a strong supporter of the Asian community, and we are so excited that he has agreed to help out in the future.”
LASO faculty adviser Wing Fok also said that this year’s competition was bigger and better than ever.
“The preparation this year was excellent,” he said.
“We had more competing teams this year than last year, and things definitely ran more smoothly.”
Le said she is excited that so many teams joined this year, and that LASO is open to welcoming even more for next year’s competition.
“We are really focused on keeping with LASO’s tradition of unity and diversity,” she said. “The more groups involved, the better.”
Khadijah Rogers, BSU president, gave thanks to LASO for promoting this unity at Loyola.
“I want to thank LASO because they are building a great thing with this competition by bringing all the organizations and schools together,” she said.
“We are all working together for more unity here at Loyola, and LASO is one of the organizations at the forefront of this goal.”
Besh also said that one of the main reasons he loves food competitions is because of the unity they promote.
“The soul and passion put into the food here was a natural unifier,” he said.
“Food is a common thread that brings all of our cultures together.”
Jessica Williams can be reached at [email protected].
