Across the state, some of North Carolina's top chefs are competing for the title of Top Chef as part of the NCRLA Chef Showdown. Put on by the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association, a trade group, the competition aims to highlight not only the state's culinary talents, but also its agriculture and seafood industries. PRE stopped by one of the regional preliminaries in Morehead City, where a dozen local chefs are seeking to make the next round.
The NCRLA Chef Showdown is not like TV cooking competitions, intense, race-against-the-clock cooking competition, like Iron Chef or Chopped. Instead, it's a more relaxed affair. Chefs have plenty of time to ready their dish and could even come with some elements already prepared.
The Chef Showdown is entering its seventh year, growing each year to include more mixologists, chefs and pastry chefs. For Mauricio Huarcaya, a chef at The Green House in Wilmington, it's his second year competing.
"I'm feeling good it's always nervewracking," he said.
The Green House is a vegan restaurant in Wilmington. Last year, Huarcaya represented the restaurant in the competition, but this year, he's representing himself. Huarcaya has hosted pop-up restaurants with his brother that feature menu items that go back to his upbringing in Peru.
"I don't call myself Pervuian food, it's more Peruvian inspired," Huarcaya, said, adding he likes to experiment with different flavor combinations and cuisine. "I like to mess around with people's palettes."
He sees the pop-up ventures as an opportunity to try out new dishes and to infuse them with Peruvian elements. His competition dish does the same.
The dish itself is kept secret until finalists are announced in early summer. There are still regional competitions scheduled in Wilkesboro, Charlotte, and Raleigh. The ingredients used, however, can be shared. Huarcaya said his dish includes "aromatic" staples in Peruvian cuisine: garlic, ginger, and aji amarillo peppers — a South American hot chili pepper.
"It's used in every single food," Huarcaya said. "It gives it that funk, that spice, that smokiness, to the dish."
Huarcaya says the dish has sentimental value, though he hasn't cooked it in years. The centerpiece of the dish is the octopus. Huarcaya said while in Peru, he and his family would travel to the coast and his father would go out into the water to gather seafood. He and his mother, waiting on the beach for hours, until his father returned with squid, octopus or sea bass to be used in ceviche.
Octopus is a difficult meat to prepared. If cooked too long, it's texture becomes rubbery and hard to chew. Having not cooked with octopus in years, it's a daring choice for Huarcaya, but he wants to take the risk.
While he Huarcaya finishes up in the kitchen, the judges are eagerly waiting in the neighboring room.
Matthew Krenz is one of the judges this year. He's a private chef and the 2017 Chef Showdown winner.
In past years, Krenz says, submissions have spanned from beets used a desert to common seafood fare. As a judge, Krenz says he's looking for not just a tasty meal, but also a unique use of ingredients.
"You're looking for the story, the ingredients and how they highlight our very bio-dynamic state, and who you are as a chef, your skills and technique," he said.
Lynn Minges is the President of the NCRLA. She says the purpose for the competition is to promote the state's culinary talents, farms and fisheries.
"It's about encouraging those local chefs and pastry chefs to exhibit their talents," she said. "Frequently, people know of award-winning chefs in some of the major cities, but really they're throughout North Carolina in each of North Carolina 100 counties."
Chefs are encouraged to include ingredients from North Carolina farms and fisheries. Kevin Davis is another chef taking part in the competition. He cooks at the Oceanna Pier House in Atlantic Beach. Davis presented earlier in the day, using rice from Tideland Grain in Oriental and seafood caught by North Carolina fishermen.
Shortly after noon, Huarcaya emerged from the kitchen with plates. He set them in front of the judges and took his position before the panel. He's nervous but confident before the panel.
Huarcaya briefly describes the dish, and the judges dive fork first into their plates. The room is quiet. After a few bites, they trade the forks for pens and share their thoughts.
"This dish, right now, with all the NC ingredients, is insane," Krenz told Huarcaya.
The judges were impressed, and a slight smile appeared on Huarcaya's face. The octopus was cooked perfectly — a risk that paid off.
"I think it went good. What I cooked was tender, which was the most nervewracking part of the dish," Huarcaya said. "I'm super happy because I could not sleep last night about it."
We won't know who will move on to the finale in Durham just yet. The NCRLA is still has regional competitions scheduled in Wilkesboro, Charlotte, and Raleigh. Once those are finished, the top-scoring chefs are invited back and must prepare an entirely new dish -- and Huarcaya says he'll still be taking risks.
